You Can Always Go Home: Chapter 3
Title: You Can Always Go Home (Gift for madebyme_x)
Gifter: safiyabat
Pairing/Characters: Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, John Winchester, Henry Winchester, Josie Sands, Abaddon, Bobby Singer, Pastor Jim, Meg Masters. Pairings (which are secondary) are Sam x Jess and Henry x Josie.
Word count: 29,624 / 6,319 (chapter)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Demons, possession, fraught familial dynamics
Summary: The Men of Letters team meets up with someone from the sulfurous side of the street. The hunter team finds that they've been railroaded into a family reunion, with fairly predictable results.
Sam, Jess, Henry and Josie left from Cedar City at nine the next morning. Sam figured that they could probably make it to Sterling City, Colorado before people staged a mutiny. Sure, it was a ten hour drive and they’d make the last part of it in the dark, but it would make their journey so much shorter and better, and the roads looked clear and bright, and if he just didn’t tell them until they got there that this was his plan they might go for it. Maybe.
His dreams the night before had been a weird mix of proper REM processing of the information dump Henry had given him and images of Dean and John fighting some kind of East Asian snow spirit. Sam wasn’t sure, he thought those might have been a vision, but unless the visions came while he was awake or related to the demon that had dogged his footsteps since he’d been an infant he couldn’t be sure. Still, if they were a vision he had every reason to believe that Dean and John would be okay, for the Winchester definition of okay, so he didn’t worry too much about it.
Instead, as he drove, he thought more about what Henry had told him. Apparently his grandfather had been part of a secret society that tracked, and studied, the supernatural and somehow managed to not kill it. They had no problem with magic. They had no problem with psychics. Sam had even confided in Henry about his own abilities - the man had seen him use some of them, after all - and Henry had just grinned and told him that was great news.
“It explains why the spell brought me to you instead of to your father, Sam,” he said, relaxing for the first time since his arrival. “If your father doesn’t practice magic, and you not only cast spells of your own but have psychic abilities of your own, then the magic would have sought out that energy. I’d have expected John to be the target but you’ve got a lot of energy of your own.”
Sam had just blushed. He guessed that it made sense, if he thought about it that way, but he had a hard time wrapping his head around speaking about magic so openly with anyone but Jess.
It would have been something, he thought, to grow up in that kind of environment. To be able to study the world - the entire world - without being ordered to focus solely on how to kill it. To know people, a consistent group of people, who valued knowledge for its own sake instead of for its value in destruction. As near as Sam could tell, they had all been wiped out in Abaddon’s assault. He thought Henry was kidding himself if he thought that some of them had survived. Still, he’d get him to Jim’s, and let him meet up with John and Dean. They could hunt down any surviving information. If anyone could help him track down survivors, it was John. And if anyone could help John track down the demon that had destroyed his family, well, it was definitely Henry and Josie, working together.
They stopped for a quick rest and stretch in Grand Junction. Sam leaned backward, just enough to crack his back a little, when he felt a telltale pull on something in him, in his blood. He picked up his head and looked around, but no one seemed to be paying all that much attention to them. “Problem,” he warned the others. “There’s a demon nearby.”
Josie paled, but reached under her hoodie. “Who? Where?”
“I don’t know yet. But I can - I guess the closest thing is that I can smell them.”
“Well, we need food and we need gas,” Jess sighed. She reached into her purse and pulled out a grease pencil. “I know we already warded the car but I’ll put some more on, just in case. You guys okay with sticking with the plan?”
Both Henry and Josie were, so they locked the car and walked over to a small mom-and-pop restaurant and sat down. The hair on the back of Sam’s neck stood up; he couldn’t shake the feeling of something watching them, but he tried to act normally, ordering a veggie burger and a salad when the waitress came along.
All three of his companions made fun of him for that. “Really? A veggie burger?” Josie snorted. “We travel fifty years into the future and that’s what people eat these days?”
Sam made a face at her. “Well you’re always welcome to chow down on the deep fried Snickers bar, or the McRib.”
“For real? What’s a McRib?”
“Fast food ribs. No joke.” Sam shuddered. “I’ll stick with my salad.”
Henry made a face and poked at his meatloaf. “Okay that’s an appetite killer right there. I mean fast food had its place, but that’s just disgusting.”
Jess laughed. “Oh at least you haven’t introduced him to Spaghetti-os or some of the best in psychedelic-colored cereal.”
Josie grimaced. “I’ll pass, thanks.” She glanced at Sam. “Still. Veggie burgers?”
That sensation, the reminder of the demonic presence, increased its pressure against his mind and a woman approached the table. She might have been about five foot four, with bleach-blonde hair and wide brown eyes that would have been pretty if it weren’t for the deeply unsettling glint just underneath them. She gave them a grin. “Hi there. Mind if I join you for a minute? I’ve been looking for Sam here for a while now.” Her eyes flashed onyx, just for a moment. “No tricks. I promise.”
Jess snarled and began the words to an exorcism, but the demon just gestured. Jess started to choke, face going red immediately. “Now here’s what’s going to happen. Wifey’s going to shut up, and we’re going to talk. That’s all. No exorcisms, and she gets to keep breathing. No one makes a scene and everyone walks away happy. Got it?”
Sam glanced at Jess. Her eyes were already bloodshot. “Yeah.”
The demon relaxed, and Jess could suddenly breathe again. She took giant gasps of air while Sam put a hand on her back, grabbing her hand. “What is it that you want here?” Henry asked the blonde.
“To talk.” She shrugged. “You’re new here, aren’t you.” She sniffed. “A new Winchester. Interesting. You can call me Meg.”
“And what do you want with us, ‘Meg?’” Josie met the demon’s eyes without flinching. “It’s not every day that a demon comes and sits down at our lunch table.”
“I’m curious. We were just sitting around in the Pit, getting ready to put my father’s plan into action, when all of a sudden someone dropped a Knight of Hell into the middle of the conference table.” She leered, a jagged expression that was probably intended to resemble a smile. “From what she said at the time it was apparently you, Sam. Last I heard that was a little bit beyond your ability.”
Sam smirked. “Apparently you heard wrong.”
Meg snarled. “Can it with the cutesy shtick, alright? I want to know what rock you dug Abaddon up from under. She was the last Knight of Hell. There hasn’t’ been another one since the Civil War. We didn’t figure her into our plans.”
Sam fought to contain his laughter. She thought he’d deliberately conjured Abaddon, to throw a wrench into her plans? For real? “I could tell you that, Meg. I could. But I don’t really see where that benefits me.” He sat back, spreading his arms wide across the back of the booth. He caught Henry’s eye, and then Josie’s. He’d never worked with them before, but he hoped that they’d manage to figure something out before he had to act. “I don’t even know who your father is. Or what his plans are.”
She pursed her lips. “Fair enough. My father, Sam, is the one who gave you all those super special things that you can do that no one else can.” She winked, false cheer radiating from every pore.
“He’s the one who killed my mother.” Sam didn’t lean forward. He wouldn’t show as much interest as he felt - he couldn’t, not if he wanted to keep Meg on her toes, but to be honest most of what he felt was numb. His father had been fighting for twenty-two years for answers and here they were, just sitting there at the end of the table like it was no big deal.
Meg shrugged and grabbed a fry off of Josie’s plate. “If you want to make an omelet. You know how it is. My father’s responsible for everything you are. You owe him.”
“I wouldn’t go quite that far. I mean, I don’t even know the guy. And considering that he put me under a death sentence with my actual family, I’m not exactly feeling charitable. Why would a demon go around giving babies abilities, anyway?”
She leaned back, expression no longer quite so affable. “I can’t tell you that yet, Sam. That would ruin the surprise. Let’s just say that I’m pretty sure we’re going to be seeing an awful lot of one another.” She winked. “I could ride with you. Save the trouble of finding you later.”
Jess glared. “I think we’ll pass. Thanks, though.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” She smiled, sweet and malicious. “We’ll have so much fun once we get to know each other.”
Jess reached into her purse and pulled out a pinch of some kind of powder. It made Sam feel a little itchy, but the effect on Meg was instant. She recoiled and disappeared. “Palo Santo shavings,” Jess explained. “She wasn’t going to give us anything new to work with.”
“I can see where it would be a good thing to keep on hand if you’re running into demons on a regular basis.” Josie grinned. “That’s a well-stocked purse.”
Jess winked at the redhead. “A girl’s better off over-prepared than underprepared, don’t you think?” She pulled some cash out of her purse. “Speaking of which, I’m kind of wondering if we shouldn’t maybe get out of here sooner than later.”
“Not a bad plan,” Sam agreed, adding some cash to the pile.
Jess took the keys from him and insisted on driving the rest of the way. “I want to be a good ways away from here before Meg comes back,” she suggested. “Where do you think is a good place to stop for the night?”
“How about Sterling City?” Sam relaxed, glad to get his way without having to fight about it. “It’s a good enough place and it’s a good way away.”
No one objected, and they got on the road. “So. A demon’s had its eye on you since you were a baby?” Henry raised his eyebrows, but Sam just nodded. “That must have been hard.”
Sam squirmed. “It’s why I left,” he said finally. “Not the whole reason and I didn’t know it was a demon, at first, but I was starting to have visions. They were getting harder and harder to hide. John already didn’t trust me. I figured that it might not be the greatest life but it was mine, you know? I wasn’t going to give it up without a fight.” He looked out the window. “I didn’t know that was where the abilities came from until now, but I suspected.”
“Well. It sounds like it’s kind of an issue for the enemy. I mean, they sound like Abaddon showing up puts a major kink in their plans.” Josie gave a little laugh.
Sam turned to look at her. “That’s it?”
“Well it’s hardly your fault, Sam.” Henry shook his head. “There’s nothing demonic about you, wherever your abilities came from.”
Josie nodded. “Our job is to help you, not hurt you. We’re not hunters.”
Jess reached over the center console to grab Sam’s hand and squeeze it. He’d never thought anyone who wasn’t also a target would say that.
The drive up to Sterling City was tense, but they made it without any problems. Once they arrived, Sam asked that one of the women call Jim. “John and Dean are at the rectory right now, and John won’t be willing to hear us out on the whole time travel thing until he sees you face to face.” He nodded at Henry. “Once we’ve got Jim on the phone I can explain about the meet-up with Meg, and he can pass the information on to John. But he’d recognize my voice, and I don’t want to take the chance that he’d recognize Henry’s. So - it has to be one of the ladies, just in case John picks up.”
Henry pressed his lips shut at the roundabout way of going about things, but Sam didn’t have time for his “we’re all family” issues right now. He just checked them into the motel - one room, two queen-sized beds, for security’s sake, and they’d just have to deal with the loss of privacy. If they were lucky and didn’t hit traffic or weather they’d be in Blue Earth tomorrow night and Sam and Jess would have their own motel room tomorrow night; they could survive a little close quarters until then.
Jim, as it turned out, did pick up the phone. John and Dean were out hunting an ice spirit, which meant that Sam’s dream had been a vision and not just a dream. Huh. Who knew? He accepted the phone back from his fiancée and explained what had happened to his friend and mentor, who sounded both intrigued and worried at the same time. “That doesn’t sound good, Sam. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
“Yeah, Jim. We’ve got the car warded and everything; if we don’t get out and get too social I think we should be okay. I don’t know how much of that you want to pass on to Dad; I’d rather that we kept my name out of this whole case. But I still think this is something he’d want to know, if that makes any sense.”
Jess wrapped an arm around his waist as Jim gave a quiet laugh into the phone. “You’re a good man, Sam. Take care of yourself. I’ll hopefully see you tomorrow night.”
Henry and Josie insisted that they split up the beds by gender again. Sam supposed that he could understand that, even if he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around the one person who understood him and gave him comfort. Apparently Henry and Josie hadn’t had that kind of relationship, whatever kind of chemistry seemed to flash between them, and they wanted to keep things professional. “We must seem terribly old fashioned to you,” Josie smiled, blushing.
“Not at all.” Jess gave her a reassuring smile. “I know that engaged people living together wasn’t the norm where you lived, and well - I mean Henry was -“ She stopped herself.
Henry shrunk into himself a little, but waved a hand. “It’s okay. It’ll take some time - but it’s not like there is a manual for this stuff.” He grimaced. “Time travel isn’t exactly common, even though there is a spell for it.”
“I can see why.” Sam shrugged. “Who wouldn’t go back in time and fix everything that they could? I mean, who wouldn’t change everything possible so that their lives would turn out better?”
Henry and Josie both jumped a little. “Here we are talking about going back and ‘fixing things,’” the latter said, leaning forward. “Neither one of us has thought about what that would mean for you.”
Sam gave a little laugh. “Ma’am, a demon’s been after me since I was six months old. It killed my mother and drove my father to live always on the run, never in the same place for more than a couple of weeks. And there’s never been a point where he hasn’t blamed me. You want to go back and fix it so that doesn’t happen? You be my guest.”
Jess grabbed at his arm. “Sam! What if that meant that you weren’t born?”
He kissed her lips. “Then you’d probably be better off. I mean, Brady wouldn’t have been possessed and tried to kill you, so he’d be better off and you wouldn’t have to remember that.”
She glared at him. “We’re so talking about this later.”
He sighed. If Josie and Henry could get back to their proper time, then there wouldn’t be a later. It didn’t seem like they had - after all, Sam existed, everything else had happened, so the past never changed. But still - if it meant that everyone’s life was better, it wasn’t like he’d miss not having existed in the first place.
“On that morbid note, let’s try to get some sleep.” Henry sighed and tucked turned out the light. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Sam lay down and closed his eyes, trying to force his body to rest. Much to his surprise, sleep did find him quickly, despite the tension-filled day. When he woke, he felt like he was ready to face the ten-hour drive to Blue Earth.
*
Dean was lying on the bed in the room he used to share with Sam, contemplating the ceiling, when he heard a car pull up outside the rectory. He sat straight up. It didn’t necessarily mean anything. It could have been anyone - some parishioner. Some other hunter in need of help. Anyone. Still, something nagged at the back of his mind. Don’t let this go. It’s your chance.
So he raced down the stairs in his bare feet, just in time to see a Honda Pilot with California plates pulling out of the driveway and back onto the road. Two strangers stood on the doorstep as Jim Murphy held the door open for them. Jim’s face looked sad, profoundly sad, and he shook his shaggy head. “He wouldn’t come in, even for a second?” he murmured to the couple.
“He’s got his reasons.” The male half of the couple shook his head. “I tried to get him to chance it, but he wouldn’t do it. I can’t say he was wrong.” He sighed. Thank you for letting us use your place for this. It’s a huge help.”
“Anything for the Winchester family.” Jim grinned, if a little sadly, and turned around to see Dean. “Hey, Dean. You want to go and get your dad for me? This is that contact I told you about.”
Dean swallowed. That had been Sam, in the car. Sam had the opportunity to come in, and had refused. He guessed that told him all he needed to know. He’d expected as much, and after hearing what Dad had to say he’d kind of figured it was best for Sam if he stayed away, but he still kind of wanted to punch a wall or something. Instead, he went and found his father, just like he’d been asked.
Dad was in the guest room, writing in his journal, when Dean found him. “Sir? That contact, from California, is here. With a friend.”
Dad hesitated, and then he hauled himself to his feet. “Alright. No time like the present. How are those ribs?”
“As well as can be expected, sir. He doesn’t seem inclined to fight.” Dean tried not to think about the ribs. It helped them to hurt less.
“Appearances can be deceiving,” he said, but grabbed a gun and led the way back down to the living room.
Pastor Jim was sitting down there in one of the stiff, formal chairs. The strange man and woman sat near enough to make it clear that they knew each other, but not so close that it looked like they were together. Dad stopped stock still when he saw the man, who rose to his feet when he saw John. “What the hell are you?” John growled at him.
Tears streamed down the stranger’s face. “You’ve gotten so big!” he gasped, putting a hand over his mouth.
John already had a knife in his hand. “Shifter? Revenant?”
“The tests have all been done already, John.” Jim sighed. “He is who he looks like.”
“And who did those tests, Jim? Hm?” John’s jaw twitched as he struggled with the strain of holding his temper in. Dean had seen it all too often. “Get me something silver, someone, right now.”
Dean pressed a silver blade into his father’s hand. “First you,” John growled to the man. “Then you.” He glanced at Jim. “You get some damn holy water and make with an exorcism.”
“Language, John,” the man tutted.
John dragged the silver knife over the top of the stranger’s forearm, then repeated the same process with the woman. Jim returned with holy water, which had no effect. Both of them repeated the exorcism verbatim along with the priest, which had Dean struggling not to snicker as they finished the rite together. It was the kind of thing that Sammy would have done, if he were here.
Then the redhead turned to John, eyes narrowed. “Alright. Are you going to let your father hug you or not?”
Father? Dean staggered. He guessed the guy did look a little bit like him, if he thought about it. “Why would he do that, lady?” Dean snapped at her. “His father walked out on him fifty years ago. It’s a little late to get that last late night cuddle in, don’t you think?”
The man - a good twenty years younger than his dad at least - swallowed. “Yeah. About that. For you it’s been fifty years, and I’m going to try everything in my power to fix that. I am. But for me it’s been about four days, and three of them have been spent driving here.”
“Time travel.” The redhead gave a thin, professional smile at the blank looks that both Dean and his father gave. “Your father was part of a secret society. You were supposed to have been raised in it, but they were wiped out by a demon. In order to try to save others, Henry here cast a spell - a time travel spell. It was supposed to bring him to you in the future, but he got a little turned around.”
“At the end of the day, though, it drew off the demon,” Jim added. “Which, it should be noted, has thrown a major monkey wrench into the works of the demon that killed your wife, John.”
Dad started when Jim said that, like he’d been so caught up in his father’s face that he couldn’t think past that. Dean couldn’t blame him. John had hated the guy for fifty years for walking out on him. Now here he was, looking like it had been only yesterday. Which, for one of them, it had. “If you just time traveled, where’d you get the clothes?”
“The people in whose closet we landed were very generous.” The woman gave another of those thin smiles. Dean got the sense that she was one tough woman, and that if Dad took a swing at his old man Dad would be on the ground before he could blink. “Ours were a little bloody.”
John nodded slowly. “I. Um. I see. So you come here from the distant past wanting me to believe that you just… cast a time travel spell.”
“I’ve been given to understand that you’re opposed to such things.” Henry sat back down, apparently abandoning the idea of a hug. “I’m sorry that you never got the chance to learn better. My intention was to come to you, after you’d completed your studies, and then you and I would go back to defeat Abaddon together.”
“Do you think you might begin to see the flaw in your plan?” John’s teeth were grinding together enough that Dean was starting to think about looking for a dentist.
“Desperation,” Henry pointed out. “It was either that or just let the Knight of Hell loose on Illinois, to include you and Millie.” He took a deep breath. “The goal was - it is - for us to get back to our own time and defeat Abaddon there.”
“But she’s here,” Dean pointed out, smiling brightly. “Not there. Then. Whatever.”
“That does seem to be a problem. Although that seems to annoy some other demon.” The redhead gave Dean one of those irritated schoolteacher looks.
“They had an encounter with your demon’s daughter, John,” Jim interrupted, walking across the room to stand between the pairs. “On their way here - was it only yesterday?”
Henry nodded. “Yes. I believe it was yesterday. She seemed quite irate that someone had exorcised a Knight of Hell into the middle of a planning meeting.”
“Did it not occur to any of you to take this demon hostage and get some real information out of her?” Dad growled.
The redhead just raised her eyebrow. “In the middle of a crowded diner. You think we should have made a huge scene and taken a demon hostage in front of a crowd of civilians.” She glanced at Henry. “Our ride’s probably still in town. We can probably get him to come back if we can ring the hotel.”
“Excuse me?” John asked, in a dangerous tone.
“You heard me.” Redhead wasn’t intimidated by Dad, not in any way, shape or form. “I’ve worked with hunters before. Some were good. Some were less good. At the end of the day, though, even the Campbells came down to kill first and sort out the mess later. That would have created a huge problem for everyone involved.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder.
“Wait - the who?” Dean asked, blinking.
“You call yourselves hunters and you’ve never heard of the Campbells?” Redhead scoffed. “Call our ride back, Henry. We’ve got work to do.”
“What, like Samuel Campbell?” John asked, in a slow and terrible tone.
“Yeah, that’s one of ‘em. He did some work for us a couple of years back. He’s part of them. There’s a whole family of them. Why do you look so green?”
Dean grabbed his father as he staggered back. “Dad?” he asked.
“Mary’s father was Samuel Campbell,” Dad murmured, face ashen.
Even Dean had to process that for a second. “You’re saying that Mom… came from a hunter family?” He hadn’t even known that hunter families existed. Not outside the Winchesters. “It has to be a different Campbell family. It’s not like the name is uncommon.”
“Must be.” Henry softened as he looked into his son’s stricken face. “Look. For now, anyway, it sounds like the demons have their hands full. They blamed… our host… for dropping Abaddon onto them, if you can believe it.”
John swallowed. “Why does Abaddon have it in for you?” He blinked a few times. “Is it all Winchesters?”
“No.” The corners of his mouth played up. “At least it wasn’t. What about this other demon? Its daughter told us something about giving ‘gifts’ to children, abilities, that sort of thing. That’s about it.”
The redhead stroked her chin. “The daughter said that their plans had all been made in the absence of a Knight of Hell. When she - well. When she came here, there wasn’t a Knight in Hell for fifty years.”
John paled even further. Dean felt a knot grow in his stomach. “What if the plan was to grow new knights?”
Henry frowned. “That’s an awfully big leap of logic.”
“Think about it. Giving kids powers, tainting them. Turning them into little demonic sleeper cells.”
“The kids wouldn’t be demonic just because a demon flipped a switch inside their brain,” Redhead explained. “For starters, he’d only be able to work with something that was already there. At least, that’s as far as I know about psychic abilities and demons. Not without you owing your soul, which you’d have to give your full, knowing consent for. Like demonic witchcraft.”
Henry and Jim both nodded. “But a child can’t do that. So it would only be enhancing power that already existed,” the latter agreed. “That makes sense.”
“The Men of Letters had a fantastic library on this,” Josie sighed. “Anyway, the whole point is that the kids still have free will. If they were good to begin with, and they had the right encouragement to grow up good, they’ll be fine. If they had a lot of incentive to turn evil, then I guess like any other human it’s possible.” She shrugged.
“You haven’t seen these kids.” John looked her in the eye, and Dean trusted his father in this.
“I’ve seen enough,” she replied, in a quiet tone.
Dean understood then. He knew, of course. He knew that it had been Sam who had found them, Sam who the demon had tainted. Sam who had helped them, even though it meant a huge risk to himself. “You can’t be sure they’re going to stay good,” Dean sighed to the woman. “Sure, they may seem okay now. But who’s to say they’re not going to turn to evil sometime down the road?”
“It’s like any other weapon.” Henry shook his head. “I - well, you should understand. Wait - you are John’s son, correct?”
Jim laughed. “Henry Winchester, meet your grandson, Dean. Dean Winchester, this is your grandfather, Henry.”
“Allow me to introduce my colleague and friend, Josie Sands.” Henry gestured toward the redhead. “John, I don’t know if you remember her.”
“A little bit. She didn’t like kids much.” John smirked.
Josie shrugged. “Not my strong suit. Anyway. We were talking about demons. I think a lot of your problem will be solved if we can get rid of these demons once and for all.”
“You got some way of doing that, lady?” John snorted. “Because we can send them back to Hell, but they just pop right back out.”
“I have a few ideas. I might want to call in some reinforcements.” Her lip curled, just a little. “A hunter might not approve.”
“If you can help me get revenge,” John said, enunciating slowly and carefully, “I don’t care.”
Henry shivered. “We’ll have to see what we can come up with. But we’ll need to talk to some other people.” He sighed. “Might I borrow your phone, Father Murphy?”
Jim grinned. “In here, please.” He led Henry away.
Dean’s pulse raced. He knew, or he thought he knew, who Henry was going to call. He couldn’t follow. He couldn’t let on - it wasn’t safe for Sam, and he still had Dad’s revelations swirling in his head. Besides, the jury was still out on this whole “grandfather” business.
John was still sitting in the living room, face an entirely wrong shade of white. “I just can’t wrap my head around all of this,” Dad said. “I mean - first of all, my father’s a witch. Always was.”
“No. He’s not.” Josie rolled her eyes, and Dean had to wonder how it was that Henry wasn’t hitting that every day of the week. Josie Sands was hot, hotter than the flames of Hell. “The Men of Letters make use of spells in the course of our work, but so do most hunters. Witchcraft is something very different.”
“And apparently Mary came from a family of hunters.” Dad’s hand shook as he lifted it to his face. “My Mary?”
“We don’t know that for sure.” Dean shook his head. “She would have told you. She would have said something.”
“Not if she was trying to get out.” Jim gave a small smile. “I mean, as far as she knew, John, you were a civilian. We don’t tell civilians about what we do. Ever. So if she was going to marry a civilian, she had to become one herself. Think back. Do you remember anything that seemed unusual? Things that she wrote off as ‘superstitions?’”
Dean growled at the pastor, drawing a shocked look from Josie, but John sighed. “She had a thing for iron,” he nodded slowly. “A real thing for iron. And she was picky about the salt.”
“The Campbells were some of the best,” Josie told him in a soft tone. “She’d have known how to hide herself well. But sometimes, in a hunting family, there will be children who don’t fit the mold. Who don’t take to hunting. Sometimes they’re too sensitive, they don’t like the killing. Sometimes they’re psychic and feel unsafe in a family of hunters. Sometimes it’s both.” She shrugged.
“Are you trying to tell me my wife was a freak now?” John loomed over the scholar.
She just gave him this look, almost contemptuous. “Sit down, John. I didn’t know her. I think I might have met her once when she was all of two. It wasn’t a meeting that stood out. I’m just telling you that it’s not unusual for children in hunting families to reject the life. That’s all.”
His face twisted and he walked out of the room. Dean heard his feet on the stairs, heavy and loud. “Did you have to put it like that?” he asked Josie with a sigh. “I mean, that’s his wife, his whole reason for doing everything we do, and you’re telling him she committed the ultimate sin.”
Josie shrugged. “I can’t say I have a lot of patience for his viewpoint. I just spent four days with a guy who faced down a Knight of Hell without flinching and saved my life. Faced down another demon too, just as calm and cool as can be. But he is terrified of coming here and seeing that man again.” She blew out a long, slow breath. “I am dying for a cigarette.”
Dean raised an eyebrow. “Hoo boy. I guess you’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
She glared. “The link between cigarettes and cancer was known in 1954; I jumped in 1958. I quit in 1955. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t cheerfully kill for a cigarette right now.” She sighed. “Look. You feel your way about Sam. You feel your way about Henry, too -“
“They both abandoned their families!” Dean hissed. “They did!”
“Henry didn’t abandon anything!” Josie snapped. “He saved a lot of people. And Sam would have - well, Sam needed to get out. He’s more suited to being a Man of Letters than a hunter. Who knows.” She grinned. “If we can’t get back to our own time and fix everything that was broken here, maybe we can talk him into helping to revive it. Him and that fiancée of his.”
“Fiancée?” Dean gulped, sitting back down. “Sammy’s getting married?”
“She’s a lovely girl. Spine of solid steel, and she takes excellent care of him.” She smiled. “Henry and I both like her.”
Dean slumped. He wished he could meet this fiancée. Wished he could see his brother and give him a hard time, see what he was up to these days. “He’s really scared to be around us. Hates us that much.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t think hate has a lot to do with it. Look. I’m not exactly qualified to be your family counselor, okay?”
Henry returned to the room. “He’s spooked,” the patriarch told them both. “He’s willing to help out for a while, but he’s spooked.” He glanced at Dean, almost like he wanted to say something, and then away again. “We can leave in the morning.”
“You’re going to leave Dad again. Just like that.” Dean shook his head. “Figures.”
Henry rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. “Look. I understand that my disappearance was… was devastating for John. I do. I didn’t see an alternative and I still don’t. If I’m able to go back and fix it all I will. Even with everything he’s become he’s still my son -“
Dean stood up. “Everything he’s become? He’s a hero! He saves lives, every day, even though he’s been torn up inside since he was four years old! Even though everyone in his life has left him, he still puts himself out there and helps people!”
“He kills without consideration, without differentiation,” Henry shot back. “He doesn’t see a difference between ‘supernatural’ and ‘evil.’ Or between ‘paranormal’ and ‘evil.’ It’s a shame. I’d hoped - well, there’s nothing that I can do about it now. But the fact that -“ Henry stopped himself. “I’m not going to try to convince you. There isn’t time and I’ve yet to meet a hunter who would listen to reason. We’ve got a demon to try to stop, one who’s going to kill a lot of people if we don’t get our act together. While I’d love to have an opportunity to connect with my son, I don’t think he’s interested. And that’s understandable.” He looked away. “We’ll be out of your hair come morning.”
Dean shook his head. “You can’t just leave him!”
Josie scoffed. “You think he should what - let the most dangerous demon in Hell run around loose so that his son, who refuses to acknowledge him, can do what? Refuse to help? There’s work to be done. I’m sorry that doesn’t fit in with your ideals.” She walked out of the room; a moment later Dean heard her voice talking to Pastor Jim.
Henry looked at Dean. “I know I’m not your favorite person, Dean. And I know this is difficult for a hunter, but try to see things from my point of view. Five days ago I was a happily married young scholar. Today my wife is dead, my son hates me and everything I’ve worked my whole life for is dust. And my grandson, who is one of the only two people even remotely interested in helping me to take down a demon, is pretty convinced that my son wants him dead. This is already difficult, Dean. If you’re not going to help -“ He cut himself off and left the room.
Back to Chapter Two -- On to Chapter Four
Gifter: safiyabat
Pairing/Characters: Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, John Winchester, Henry Winchester, Josie Sands, Abaddon, Bobby Singer, Pastor Jim, Meg Masters. Pairings (which are secondary) are Sam x Jess and Henry x Josie.
Word count: 29,624 / 6,319 (chapter)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Demons, possession, fraught familial dynamics
Summary: The Men of Letters team meets up with someone from the sulfurous side of the street. The hunter team finds that they've been railroaded into a family reunion, with fairly predictable results.
Sam, Jess, Henry and Josie left from Cedar City at nine the next morning. Sam figured that they could probably make it to Sterling City, Colorado before people staged a mutiny. Sure, it was a ten hour drive and they’d make the last part of it in the dark, but it would make their journey so much shorter and better, and the roads looked clear and bright, and if he just didn’t tell them until they got there that this was his plan they might go for it. Maybe.
His dreams the night before had been a weird mix of proper REM processing of the information dump Henry had given him and images of Dean and John fighting some kind of East Asian snow spirit. Sam wasn’t sure, he thought those might have been a vision, but unless the visions came while he was awake or related to the demon that had dogged his footsteps since he’d been an infant he couldn’t be sure. Still, if they were a vision he had every reason to believe that Dean and John would be okay, for the Winchester definition of okay, so he didn’t worry too much about it.
Instead, as he drove, he thought more about what Henry had told him. Apparently his grandfather had been part of a secret society that tracked, and studied, the supernatural and somehow managed to not kill it. They had no problem with magic. They had no problem with psychics. Sam had even confided in Henry about his own abilities - the man had seen him use some of them, after all - and Henry had just grinned and told him that was great news.
“It explains why the spell brought me to you instead of to your father, Sam,” he said, relaxing for the first time since his arrival. “If your father doesn’t practice magic, and you not only cast spells of your own but have psychic abilities of your own, then the magic would have sought out that energy. I’d have expected John to be the target but you’ve got a lot of energy of your own.”
Sam had just blushed. He guessed that it made sense, if he thought about it that way, but he had a hard time wrapping his head around speaking about magic so openly with anyone but Jess.
It would have been something, he thought, to grow up in that kind of environment. To be able to study the world - the entire world - without being ordered to focus solely on how to kill it. To know people, a consistent group of people, who valued knowledge for its own sake instead of for its value in destruction. As near as Sam could tell, they had all been wiped out in Abaddon’s assault. He thought Henry was kidding himself if he thought that some of them had survived. Still, he’d get him to Jim’s, and let him meet up with John and Dean. They could hunt down any surviving information. If anyone could help him track down survivors, it was John. And if anyone could help John track down the demon that had destroyed his family, well, it was definitely Henry and Josie, working together.
They stopped for a quick rest and stretch in Grand Junction. Sam leaned backward, just enough to crack his back a little, when he felt a telltale pull on something in him, in his blood. He picked up his head and looked around, but no one seemed to be paying all that much attention to them. “Problem,” he warned the others. “There’s a demon nearby.”
Josie paled, but reached under her hoodie. “Who? Where?”
“I don’t know yet. But I can - I guess the closest thing is that I can smell them.”
“Well, we need food and we need gas,” Jess sighed. She reached into her purse and pulled out a grease pencil. “I know we already warded the car but I’ll put some more on, just in case. You guys okay with sticking with the plan?”
Both Henry and Josie were, so they locked the car and walked over to a small mom-and-pop restaurant and sat down. The hair on the back of Sam’s neck stood up; he couldn’t shake the feeling of something watching them, but he tried to act normally, ordering a veggie burger and a salad when the waitress came along.
All three of his companions made fun of him for that. “Really? A veggie burger?” Josie snorted. “We travel fifty years into the future and that’s what people eat these days?”
Sam made a face at her. “Well you’re always welcome to chow down on the deep fried Snickers bar, or the McRib.”
“For real? What’s a McRib?”
“Fast food ribs. No joke.” Sam shuddered. “I’ll stick with my salad.”
Henry made a face and poked at his meatloaf. “Okay that’s an appetite killer right there. I mean fast food had its place, but that’s just disgusting.”
Jess laughed. “Oh at least you haven’t introduced him to Spaghetti-os or some of the best in psychedelic-colored cereal.”
Josie grimaced. “I’ll pass, thanks.” She glanced at Sam. “Still. Veggie burgers?”
That sensation, the reminder of the demonic presence, increased its pressure against his mind and a woman approached the table. She might have been about five foot four, with bleach-blonde hair and wide brown eyes that would have been pretty if it weren’t for the deeply unsettling glint just underneath them. She gave them a grin. “Hi there. Mind if I join you for a minute? I’ve been looking for Sam here for a while now.” Her eyes flashed onyx, just for a moment. “No tricks. I promise.”
Jess snarled and began the words to an exorcism, but the demon just gestured. Jess started to choke, face going red immediately. “Now here’s what’s going to happen. Wifey’s going to shut up, and we’re going to talk. That’s all. No exorcisms, and she gets to keep breathing. No one makes a scene and everyone walks away happy. Got it?”
Sam glanced at Jess. Her eyes were already bloodshot. “Yeah.”
The demon relaxed, and Jess could suddenly breathe again. She took giant gasps of air while Sam put a hand on her back, grabbing her hand. “What is it that you want here?” Henry asked the blonde.
“To talk.” She shrugged. “You’re new here, aren’t you.” She sniffed. “A new Winchester. Interesting. You can call me Meg.”
“And what do you want with us, ‘Meg?’” Josie met the demon’s eyes without flinching. “It’s not every day that a demon comes and sits down at our lunch table.”
“I’m curious. We were just sitting around in the Pit, getting ready to put my father’s plan into action, when all of a sudden someone dropped a Knight of Hell into the middle of the conference table.” She leered, a jagged expression that was probably intended to resemble a smile. “From what she said at the time it was apparently you, Sam. Last I heard that was a little bit beyond your ability.”
Sam smirked. “Apparently you heard wrong.”
Meg snarled. “Can it with the cutesy shtick, alright? I want to know what rock you dug Abaddon up from under. She was the last Knight of Hell. There hasn’t’ been another one since the Civil War. We didn’t figure her into our plans.”
Sam fought to contain his laughter. She thought he’d deliberately conjured Abaddon, to throw a wrench into her plans? For real? “I could tell you that, Meg. I could. But I don’t really see where that benefits me.” He sat back, spreading his arms wide across the back of the booth. He caught Henry’s eye, and then Josie’s. He’d never worked with them before, but he hoped that they’d manage to figure something out before he had to act. “I don’t even know who your father is. Or what his plans are.”
She pursed her lips. “Fair enough. My father, Sam, is the one who gave you all those super special things that you can do that no one else can.” She winked, false cheer radiating from every pore.
“He’s the one who killed my mother.” Sam didn’t lean forward. He wouldn’t show as much interest as he felt - he couldn’t, not if he wanted to keep Meg on her toes, but to be honest most of what he felt was numb. His father had been fighting for twenty-two years for answers and here they were, just sitting there at the end of the table like it was no big deal.
Meg shrugged and grabbed a fry off of Josie’s plate. “If you want to make an omelet. You know how it is. My father’s responsible for everything you are. You owe him.”
“I wouldn’t go quite that far. I mean, I don’t even know the guy. And considering that he put me under a death sentence with my actual family, I’m not exactly feeling charitable. Why would a demon go around giving babies abilities, anyway?”
She leaned back, expression no longer quite so affable. “I can’t tell you that yet, Sam. That would ruin the surprise. Let’s just say that I’m pretty sure we’re going to be seeing an awful lot of one another.” She winked. “I could ride with you. Save the trouble of finding you later.”
Jess glared. “I think we’ll pass. Thanks, though.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” She smiled, sweet and malicious. “We’ll have so much fun once we get to know each other.”
Jess reached into her purse and pulled out a pinch of some kind of powder. It made Sam feel a little itchy, but the effect on Meg was instant. She recoiled and disappeared. “Palo Santo shavings,” Jess explained. “She wasn’t going to give us anything new to work with.”
“I can see where it would be a good thing to keep on hand if you’re running into demons on a regular basis.” Josie grinned. “That’s a well-stocked purse.”
Jess winked at the redhead. “A girl’s better off over-prepared than underprepared, don’t you think?” She pulled some cash out of her purse. “Speaking of which, I’m kind of wondering if we shouldn’t maybe get out of here sooner than later.”
“Not a bad plan,” Sam agreed, adding some cash to the pile.
Jess took the keys from him and insisted on driving the rest of the way. “I want to be a good ways away from here before Meg comes back,” she suggested. “Where do you think is a good place to stop for the night?”
“How about Sterling City?” Sam relaxed, glad to get his way without having to fight about it. “It’s a good enough place and it’s a good way away.”
No one objected, and they got on the road. “So. A demon’s had its eye on you since you were a baby?” Henry raised his eyebrows, but Sam just nodded. “That must have been hard.”
Sam squirmed. “It’s why I left,” he said finally. “Not the whole reason and I didn’t know it was a demon, at first, but I was starting to have visions. They were getting harder and harder to hide. John already didn’t trust me. I figured that it might not be the greatest life but it was mine, you know? I wasn’t going to give it up without a fight.” He looked out the window. “I didn’t know that was where the abilities came from until now, but I suspected.”
“Well. It sounds like it’s kind of an issue for the enemy. I mean, they sound like Abaddon showing up puts a major kink in their plans.” Josie gave a little laugh.
Sam turned to look at her. “That’s it?”
“Well it’s hardly your fault, Sam.” Henry shook his head. “There’s nothing demonic about you, wherever your abilities came from.”
Josie nodded. “Our job is to help you, not hurt you. We’re not hunters.”
Jess reached over the center console to grab Sam’s hand and squeeze it. He’d never thought anyone who wasn’t also a target would say that.
The drive up to Sterling City was tense, but they made it without any problems. Once they arrived, Sam asked that one of the women call Jim. “John and Dean are at the rectory right now, and John won’t be willing to hear us out on the whole time travel thing until he sees you face to face.” He nodded at Henry. “Once we’ve got Jim on the phone I can explain about the meet-up with Meg, and he can pass the information on to John. But he’d recognize my voice, and I don’t want to take the chance that he’d recognize Henry’s. So - it has to be one of the ladies, just in case John picks up.”
Henry pressed his lips shut at the roundabout way of going about things, but Sam didn’t have time for his “we’re all family” issues right now. He just checked them into the motel - one room, two queen-sized beds, for security’s sake, and they’d just have to deal with the loss of privacy. If they were lucky and didn’t hit traffic or weather they’d be in Blue Earth tomorrow night and Sam and Jess would have their own motel room tomorrow night; they could survive a little close quarters until then.
Jim, as it turned out, did pick up the phone. John and Dean were out hunting an ice spirit, which meant that Sam’s dream had been a vision and not just a dream. Huh. Who knew? He accepted the phone back from his fiancée and explained what had happened to his friend and mentor, who sounded both intrigued and worried at the same time. “That doesn’t sound good, Sam. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
“Yeah, Jim. We’ve got the car warded and everything; if we don’t get out and get too social I think we should be okay. I don’t know how much of that you want to pass on to Dad; I’d rather that we kept my name out of this whole case. But I still think this is something he’d want to know, if that makes any sense.”
Jess wrapped an arm around his waist as Jim gave a quiet laugh into the phone. “You’re a good man, Sam. Take care of yourself. I’ll hopefully see you tomorrow night.”
Henry and Josie insisted that they split up the beds by gender again. Sam supposed that he could understand that, even if he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around the one person who understood him and gave him comfort. Apparently Henry and Josie hadn’t had that kind of relationship, whatever kind of chemistry seemed to flash between them, and they wanted to keep things professional. “We must seem terribly old fashioned to you,” Josie smiled, blushing.
“Not at all.” Jess gave her a reassuring smile. “I know that engaged people living together wasn’t the norm where you lived, and well - I mean Henry was -“ She stopped herself.
Henry shrunk into himself a little, but waved a hand. “It’s okay. It’ll take some time - but it’s not like there is a manual for this stuff.” He grimaced. “Time travel isn’t exactly common, even though there is a spell for it.”
“I can see why.” Sam shrugged. “Who wouldn’t go back in time and fix everything that they could? I mean, who wouldn’t change everything possible so that their lives would turn out better?”
Henry and Josie both jumped a little. “Here we are talking about going back and ‘fixing things,’” the latter said, leaning forward. “Neither one of us has thought about what that would mean for you.”
Sam gave a little laugh. “Ma’am, a demon’s been after me since I was six months old. It killed my mother and drove my father to live always on the run, never in the same place for more than a couple of weeks. And there’s never been a point where he hasn’t blamed me. You want to go back and fix it so that doesn’t happen? You be my guest.”
Jess grabbed at his arm. “Sam! What if that meant that you weren’t born?”
He kissed her lips. “Then you’d probably be better off. I mean, Brady wouldn’t have been possessed and tried to kill you, so he’d be better off and you wouldn’t have to remember that.”
She glared at him. “We’re so talking about this later.”
He sighed. If Josie and Henry could get back to their proper time, then there wouldn’t be a later. It didn’t seem like they had - after all, Sam existed, everything else had happened, so the past never changed. But still - if it meant that everyone’s life was better, it wasn’t like he’d miss not having existed in the first place.
“On that morbid note, let’s try to get some sleep.” Henry sighed and tucked turned out the light. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Sam lay down and closed his eyes, trying to force his body to rest. Much to his surprise, sleep did find him quickly, despite the tension-filled day. When he woke, he felt like he was ready to face the ten-hour drive to Blue Earth.
*
Dean was lying on the bed in the room he used to share with Sam, contemplating the ceiling, when he heard a car pull up outside the rectory. He sat straight up. It didn’t necessarily mean anything. It could have been anyone - some parishioner. Some other hunter in need of help. Anyone. Still, something nagged at the back of his mind. Don’t let this go. It’s your chance.
So he raced down the stairs in his bare feet, just in time to see a Honda Pilot with California plates pulling out of the driveway and back onto the road. Two strangers stood on the doorstep as Jim Murphy held the door open for them. Jim’s face looked sad, profoundly sad, and he shook his shaggy head. “He wouldn’t come in, even for a second?” he murmured to the couple.
“He’s got his reasons.” The male half of the couple shook his head. “I tried to get him to chance it, but he wouldn’t do it. I can’t say he was wrong.” He sighed. Thank you for letting us use your place for this. It’s a huge help.”
“Anything for the Winchester family.” Jim grinned, if a little sadly, and turned around to see Dean. “Hey, Dean. You want to go and get your dad for me? This is that contact I told you about.”
Dean swallowed. That had been Sam, in the car. Sam had the opportunity to come in, and had refused. He guessed that told him all he needed to know. He’d expected as much, and after hearing what Dad had to say he’d kind of figured it was best for Sam if he stayed away, but he still kind of wanted to punch a wall or something. Instead, he went and found his father, just like he’d been asked.
Dad was in the guest room, writing in his journal, when Dean found him. “Sir? That contact, from California, is here. With a friend.”
Dad hesitated, and then he hauled himself to his feet. “Alright. No time like the present. How are those ribs?”
“As well as can be expected, sir. He doesn’t seem inclined to fight.” Dean tried not to think about the ribs. It helped them to hurt less.
“Appearances can be deceiving,” he said, but grabbed a gun and led the way back down to the living room.
Pastor Jim was sitting down there in one of the stiff, formal chairs. The strange man and woman sat near enough to make it clear that they knew each other, but not so close that it looked like they were together. Dad stopped stock still when he saw the man, who rose to his feet when he saw John. “What the hell are you?” John growled at him.
Tears streamed down the stranger’s face. “You’ve gotten so big!” he gasped, putting a hand over his mouth.
John already had a knife in his hand. “Shifter? Revenant?”
“The tests have all been done already, John.” Jim sighed. “He is who he looks like.”
“And who did those tests, Jim? Hm?” John’s jaw twitched as he struggled with the strain of holding his temper in. Dean had seen it all too often. “Get me something silver, someone, right now.”
Dean pressed a silver blade into his father’s hand. “First you,” John growled to the man. “Then you.” He glanced at Jim. “You get some damn holy water and make with an exorcism.”
“Language, John,” the man tutted.
John dragged the silver knife over the top of the stranger’s forearm, then repeated the same process with the woman. Jim returned with holy water, which had no effect. Both of them repeated the exorcism verbatim along with the priest, which had Dean struggling not to snicker as they finished the rite together. It was the kind of thing that Sammy would have done, if he were here.
Then the redhead turned to John, eyes narrowed. “Alright. Are you going to let your father hug you or not?”
Father? Dean staggered. He guessed the guy did look a little bit like him, if he thought about it. “Why would he do that, lady?” Dean snapped at her. “His father walked out on him fifty years ago. It’s a little late to get that last late night cuddle in, don’t you think?”
The man - a good twenty years younger than his dad at least - swallowed. “Yeah. About that. For you it’s been fifty years, and I’m going to try everything in my power to fix that. I am. But for me it’s been about four days, and three of them have been spent driving here.”
“Time travel.” The redhead gave a thin, professional smile at the blank looks that both Dean and his father gave. “Your father was part of a secret society. You were supposed to have been raised in it, but they were wiped out by a demon. In order to try to save others, Henry here cast a spell - a time travel spell. It was supposed to bring him to you in the future, but he got a little turned around.”
“At the end of the day, though, it drew off the demon,” Jim added. “Which, it should be noted, has thrown a major monkey wrench into the works of the demon that killed your wife, John.”
Dad started when Jim said that, like he’d been so caught up in his father’s face that he couldn’t think past that. Dean couldn’t blame him. John had hated the guy for fifty years for walking out on him. Now here he was, looking like it had been only yesterday. Which, for one of them, it had. “If you just time traveled, where’d you get the clothes?”
“The people in whose closet we landed were very generous.” The woman gave another of those thin smiles. Dean got the sense that she was one tough woman, and that if Dad took a swing at his old man Dad would be on the ground before he could blink. “Ours were a little bloody.”
John nodded slowly. “I. Um. I see. So you come here from the distant past wanting me to believe that you just… cast a time travel spell.”
“I’ve been given to understand that you’re opposed to such things.” Henry sat back down, apparently abandoning the idea of a hug. “I’m sorry that you never got the chance to learn better. My intention was to come to you, after you’d completed your studies, and then you and I would go back to defeat Abaddon together.”
“Do you think you might begin to see the flaw in your plan?” John’s teeth were grinding together enough that Dean was starting to think about looking for a dentist.
“Desperation,” Henry pointed out. “It was either that or just let the Knight of Hell loose on Illinois, to include you and Millie.” He took a deep breath. “The goal was - it is - for us to get back to our own time and defeat Abaddon there.”
“But she’s here,” Dean pointed out, smiling brightly. “Not there. Then. Whatever.”
“That does seem to be a problem. Although that seems to annoy some other demon.” The redhead gave Dean one of those irritated schoolteacher looks.
“They had an encounter with your demon’s daughter, John,” Jim interrupted, walking across the room to stand between the pairs. “On their way here - was it only yesterday?”
Henry nodded. “Yes. I believe it was yesterday. She seemed quite irate that someone had exorcised a Knight of Hell into the middle of a planning meeting.”
“Did it not occur to any of you to take this demon hostage and get some real information out of her?” Dad growled.
The redhead just raised her eyebrow. “In the middle of a crowded diner. You think we should have made a huge scene and taken a demon hostage in front of a crowd of civilians.” She glanced at Henry. “Our ride’s probably still in town. We can probably get him to come back if we can ring the hotel.”
“Excuse me?” John asked, in a dangerous tone.
“You heard me.” Redhead wasn’t intimidated by Dad, not in any way, shape or form. “I’ve worked with hunters before. Some were good. Some were less good. At the end of the day, though, even the Campbells came down to kill first and sort out the mess later. That would have created a huge problem for everyone involved.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder.
“Wait - the who?” Dean asked, blinking.
“You call yourselves hunters and you’ve never heard of the Campbells?” Redhead scoffed. “Call our ride back, Henry. We’ve got work to do.”
“What, like Samuel Campbell?” John asked, in a slow and terrible tone.
“Yeah, that’s one of ‘em. He did some work for us a couple of years back. He’s part of them. There’s a whole family of them. Why do you look so green?”
Dean grabbed his father as he staggered back. “Dad?” he asked.
“Mary’s father was Samuel Campbell,” Dad murmured, face ashen.
Even Dean had to process that for a second. “You’re saying that Mom… came from a hunter family?” He hadn’t even known that hunter families existed. Not outside the Winchesters. “It has to be a different Campbell family. It’s not like the name is uncommon.”
“Must be.” Henry softened as he looked into his son’s stricken face. “Look. For now, anyway, it sounds like the demons have their hands full. They blamed… our host… for dropping Abaddon onto them, if you can believe it.”
John swallowed. “Why does Abaddon have it in for you?” He blinked a few times. “Is it all Winchesters?”
“No.” The corners of his mouth played up. “At least it wasn’t. What about this other demon? Its daughter told us something about giving ‘gifts’ to children, abilities, that sort of thing. That’s about it.”
The redhead stroked her chin. “The daughter said that their plans had all been made in the absence of a Knight of Hell. When she - well. When she came here, there wasn’t a Knight in Hell for fifty years.”
John paled even further. Dean felt a knot grow in his stomach. “What if the plan was to grow new knights?”
Henry frowned. “That’s an awfully big leap of logic.”
“Think about it. Giving kids powers, tainting them. Turning them into little demonic sleeper cells.”
“The kids wouldn’t be demonic just because a demon flipped a switch inside their brain,” Redhead explained. “For starters, he’d only be able to work with something that was already there. At least, that’s as far as I know about psychic abilities and demons. Not without you owing your soul, which you’d have to give your full, knowing consent for. Like demonic witchcraft.”
Henry and Jim both nodded. “But a child can’t do that. So it would only be enhancing power that already existed,” the latter agreed. “That makes sense.”
“The Men of Letters had a fantastic library on this,” Josie sighed. “Anyway, the whole point is that the kids still have free will. If they were good to begin with, and they had the right encouragement to grow up good, they’ll be fine. If they had a lot of incentive to turn evil, then I guess like any other human it’s possible.” She shrugged.
“You haven’t seen these kids.” John looked her in the eye, and Dean trusted his father in this.
“I’ve seen enough,” she replied, in a quiet tone.
Dean understood then. He knew, of course. He knew that it had been Sam who had found them, Sam who the demon had tainted. Sam who had helped them, even though it meant a huge risk to himself. “You can’t be sure they’re going to stay good,” Dean sighed to the woman. “Sure, they may seem okay now. But who’s to say they’re not going to turn to evil sometime down the road?”
“It’s like any other weapon.” Henry shook his head. “I - well, you should understand. Wait - you are John’s son, correct?”
Jim laughed. “Henry Winchester, meet your grandson, Dean. Dean Winchester, this is your grandfather, Henry.”
“Allow me to introduce my colleague and friend, Josie Sands.” Henry gestured toward the redhead. “John, I don’t know if you remember her.”
“A little bit. She didn’t like kids much.” John smirked.
Josie shrugged. “Not my strong suit. Anyway. We were talking about demons. I think a lot of your problem will be solved if we can get rid of these demons once and for all.”
“You got some way of doing that, lady?” John snorted. “Because we can send them back to Hell, but they just pop right back out.”
“I have a few ideas. I might want to call in some reinforcements.” Her lip curled, just a little. “A hunter might not approve.”
“If you can help me get revenge,” John said, enunciating slowly and carefully, “I don’t care.”
Henry shivered. “We’ll have to see what we can come up with. But we’ll need to talk to some other people.” He sighed. “Might I borrow your phone, Father Murphy?”
Jim grinned. “In here, please.” He led Henry away.
Dean’s pulse raced. He knew, or he thought he knew, who Henry was going to call. He couldn’t follow. He couldn’t let on - it wasn’t safe for Sam, and he still had Dad’s revelations swirling in his head. Besides, the jury was still out on this whole “grandfather” business.
John was still sitting in the living room, face an entirely wrong shade of white. “I just can’t wrap my head around all of this,” Dad said. “I mean - first of all, my father’s a witch. Always was.”
“No. He’s not.” Josie rolled her eyes, and Dean had to wonder how it was that Henry wasn’t hitting that every day of the week. Josie Sands was hot, hotter than the flames of Hell. “The Men of Letters make use of spells in the course of our work, but so do most hunters. Witchcraft is something very different.”
“And apparently Mary came from a family of hunters.” Dad’s hand shook as he lifted it to his face. “My Mary?”
“We don’t know that for sure.” Dean shook his head. “She would have told you. She would have said something.”
“Not if she was trying to get out.” Jim gave a small smile. “I mean, as far as she knew, John, you were a civilian. We don’t tell civilians about what we do. Ever. So if she was going to marry a civilian, she had to become one herself. Think back. Do you remember anything that seemed unusual? Things that she wrote off as ‘superstitions?’”
Dean growled at the pastor, drawing a shocked look from Josie, but John sighed. “She had a thing for iron,” he nodded slowly. “A real thing for iron. And she was picky about the salt.”
“The Campbells were some of the best,” Josie told him in a soft tone. “She’d have known how to hide herself well. But sometimes, in a hunting family, there will be children who don’t fit the mold. Who don’t take to hunting. Sometimes they’re too sensitive, they don’t like the killing. Sometimes they’re psychic and feel unsafe in a family of hunters. Sometimes it’s both.” She shrugged.
“Are you trying to tell me my wife was a freak now?” John loomed over the scholar.
She just gave him this look, almost contemptuous. “Sit down, John. I didn’t know her. I think I might have met her once when she was all of two. It wasn’t a meeting that stood out. I’m just telling you that it’s not unusual for children in hunting families to reject the life. That’s all.”
His face twisted and he walked out of the room. Dean heard his feet on the stairs, heavy and loud. “Did you have to put it like that?” he asked Josie with a sigh. “I mean, that’s his wife, his whole reason for doing everything we do, and you’re telling him she committed the ultimate sin.”
Josie shrugged. “I can’t say I have a lot of patience for his viewpoint. I just spent four days with a guy who faced down a Knight of Hell without flinching and saved my life. Faced down another demon too, just as calm and cool as can be. But he is terrified of coming here and seeing that man again.” She blew out a long, slow breath. “I am dying for a cigarette.”
Dean raised an eyebrow. “Hoo boy. I guess you’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
She glared. “The link between cigarettes and cancer was known in 1954; I jumped in 1958. I quit in 1955. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t cheerfully kill for a cigarette right now.” She sighed. “Look. You feel your way about Sam. You feel your way about Henry, too -“
“They both abandoned their families!” Dean hissed. “They did!”
“Henry didn’t abandon anything!” Josie snapped. “He saved a lot of people. And Sam would have - well, Sam needed to get out. He’s more suited to being a Man of Letters than a hunter. Who knows.” She grinned. “If we can’t get back to our own time and fix everything that was broken here, maybe we can talk him into helping to revive it. Him and that fiancée of his.”
“Fiancée?” Dean gulped, sitting back down. “Sammy’s getting married?”
“She’s a lovely girl. Spine of solid steel, and she takes excellent care of him.” She smiled. “Henry and I both like her.”
Dean slumped. He wished he could meet this fiancée. Wished he could see his brother and give him a hard time, see what he was up to these days. “He’s really scared to be around us. Hates us that much.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t think hate has a lot to do with it. Look. I’m not exactly qualified to be your family counselor, okay?”
Henry returned to the room. “He’s spooked,” the patriarch told them both. “He’s willing to help out for a while, but he’s spooked.” He glanced at Dean, almost like he wanted to say something, and then away again. “We can leave in the morning.”
“You’re going to leave Dad again. Just like that.” Dean shook his head. “Figures.”
Henry rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. “Look. I understand that my disappearance was… was devastating for John. I do. I didn’t see an alternative and I still don’t. If I’m able to go back and fix it all I will. Even with everything he’s become he’s still my son -“
Dean stood up. “Everything he’s become? He’s a hero! He saves lives, every day, even though he’s been torn up inside since he was four years old! Even though everyone in his life has left him, he still puts himself out there and helps people!”
“He kills without consideration, without differentiation,” Henry shot back. “He doesn’t see a difference between ‘supernatural’ and ‘evil.’ Or between ‘paranormal’ and ‘evil.’ It’s a shame. I’d hoped - well, there’s nothing that I can do about it now. But the fact that -“ Henry stopped himself. “I’m not going to try to convince you. There isn’t time and I’ve yet to meet a hunter who would listen to reason. We’ve got a demon to try to stop, one who’s going to kill a lot of people if we don’t get our act together. While I’d love to have an opportunity to connect with my son, I don’t think he’s interested. And that’s understandable.” He looked away. “We’ll be out of your hair come morning.”
Dean shook his head. “You can’t just leave him!”
Josie scoffed. “You think he should what - let the most dangerous demon in Hell run around loose so that his son, who refuses to acknowledge him, can do what? Refuse to help? There’s work to be done. I’m sorry that doesn’t fit in with your ideals.” She walked out of the room; a moment later Dean heard her voice talking to Pastor Jim.
Henry looked at Dean. “I know I’m not your favorite person, Dean. And I know this is difficult for a hunter, but try to see things from my point of view. Five days ago I was a happily married young scholar. Today my wife is dead, my son hates me and everything I’ve worked my whole life for is dust. And my grandson, who is one of the only two people even remotely interested in helping me to take down a demon, is pretty convinced that my son wants him dead. This is already difficult, Dean. If you’re not going to help -“ He cut himself off and left the room.
Back to Chapter Two -- On to Chapter Four