Second Nature 14/15
Chapter 14
"What are you doing?" Sam was back from his shower, hair still wet but he moved more smoothly now. From the kitchen door he had a skeptical eye on Dean at the stove.
"Blueberry pancakes." Dean answered with only a quick side glance at his brother, he had to flip the pancake in a second or it would get too dark.
Sam didn't answer to that but came a step closer, sniffing the air like he expected to smell something bad, burned or whatever, Dean just rolled his eyes and flipped the pancake at the exact right moment. Golden-brown just like they should be.
"This smells delicious." Sam said with awe and Dean wasn't sure if he should feel proud or offended by that.
"I'm almost done here." He said instead and poured more of the dough into the pan. "See if you can get Bobby's ass down here and have a look at Baby. Together we can carry her over her if we have to."
Of course she could eat on the couch, no problem with that, but Dean figured it would be nicer with all of them together at the kitchen table.
Still a little bit dumbstruck Sam nodded and Dean wondered if he would get out the holy water any time soon.
"Surprise, I can make pancakes." Dean flipped the next one and fought against the urge to flip his brother off as well.
"Why can you make pancakes?"
"Hey, I'm full of surprises." Dean gave him a cocky grin.
"Get the others before the pancakes get cold." Dean had to remind his brother of his task and finally Sam went to get Bobby and Baby.
Turned out Baby wanted to get off that couch and so the brothers took her under the knees and at the waistband of her last pair of jeans and carried her in an almost sitting position over to the kitchen. Dean didn't want to think about the different ways they'd carried Baby over the last two days.
It's the name, he decided, babies get carried around, don't they? He wisely kept that thought to himself, Baby was glaring more than enough at him anyway. Not that Dean was keen on carrying her around, she was heavy, but he didn't want to cause her more pain than necessary either.
"Morning." Bobby came in just when they'd settled Baby in one chair. There was a moment of hesitation when they looked each other in the eye for the first time but then Bobby smiled at her. "Looking way better than yesterday."
"I feel way better than yesterday." She replayed.
As far as Dean could tell her temperature was almost back to normal and the wound looked good so far. No infection and the painkillers did their job and so Baby sat happily with them in the kitchen.
"Okay, who wants some pancakes?" Dean asked but didn't wait for them to answer and started filling their plates.
"Boy, breakfast duty is yours from now on." Bobby informed him after the first bite and Dean accepted the compliment with a grin. They all dug in and in no time all the pancakes were gone and they sat back with their bellies full and cups of coffee in hand to wash down the last crumbs.
"So." Dean looked at Baby. "What do you want to do today?"
She blinked at him as if she didn't understand the question.
"Do?"
"Yeah, you know." Dean made an unsure gesture. "We don't have anywhere to go, this is probably your last day as a human, what do you want to do with this day?"
Sam and Bobby would bury themselves in books to find out more about this unique situation, that's for sure, but that wasn't what Dean had in mind. Usually he'd use the time for some maintenance on his car or to clean the weapons, however, both options where out of question and if he was honest he kinda looked forward to a lazy day with Baby.
"I don't know." Unsure Baby looked around the table. "What do humans usually do in this kind of situation?"
"I doubt this kind of situation occurs often." Bobby grumbled into his beard but had a warm smile for Baby on his lips. "That's why I want to find out more about this, you could help us with the books if you want to."
Dean rolled his eyes at that. Sure, did she look like a bookworm? Okay, Sam didn't look like a bookworm either but that wasn't the point. The point was that Baby should do something fun and not be stuck with dusty books.
However, Baby's answer wasn't exactly what Dean had expected.
"I can't read." Baby admitted and fiddled with her empty cup.
"You ... what?" Sam asked with clear disbelief in his voice.
"I can't read." Baby set her jaw but kept her gaze fixed on the cup in her hands.
"Newsflash, Sam." Dean interrupted before his brother could upset Baby even more. She looked distressed enough as it was. "She's a car. I doubt higher education is high on her priority list."
It did make sense, though, and Dean made a mental note to keep this in mind if she turned again next full moon. Or if she stayed human, which was a possibility.
"Sorry." Sam cleared his throat and shared a glance with Bobby. "You shouldn't move around too much and you can't read. TV?"
Sometimes ..., Dean thought and shook his head at his brother.
"We don't park her in front of the TV the whole day." Dean said. "I know what we can do."
Turned out that Baby was a natural at Poker. She understood the basic rules rather quickly and by lunch time she'd actually managed to bluff Dean twice.
"This was a bad idea." Dean threw his cards on the table while Baby gathered the chips with a smug grin.
"It was your idea." Sam reminded him.
"You're not the one losing here." Dean answered with a pointed look at Sam's chips and the meager remains in front of himself.
"I'm having fun." Baby sorted the chips into neat stacks. She was back on the couch, where she'd gotten to on her own two feet, with assistance from the brothers but on her own feet nevertheless. She had her injured leg stretched out and was dosed up with another round of painkillers and obviously had fun gambling Dean out of his last chips.
At least they didn't play for real money.
"Bobby." Dean yelled over his shoulder at the older hunter who pretended to be engrossed in his research but had been watching them with amusement the whole time. Dean didn't even have to look at him to know that. "Stop grinning to yourself, old man, and help us out here. She's eating us alive."
"I'm not …" Baby started with a frown but then her face lit up in understanding. "Oh yeah, I am eating you alive." She gave Dean a wolfish grin. "C'mon, Bobby. Join in, I need more prey."
"You sure she hasn't any werewolf tendencies?" Bobby asked but came over to join them. Baby scooted over to make room for him on the couch while Sam gave out the cards. "She's going to rip your heart out." Bobby said it playfully but judging by the look on Bobby's face Baby already had taken his heart.
Dean would never admit it but she had his for sure. The thought that she might turn back at midnight and may never come back drove a spark of pain through said heart.
In the end Baby and Sam were the winners, Bobby managed to hold on to at least a small stack of chips which left Dean the loser of the day.
"I let you win." Dean pointed with his finger at Sam.
"Sure." Sam drew the word out.
"And you were just lucky. Beginners luck, plain and simple." That one was directed at Baby who just shrugged. "It's called a game of chance for a reason."
"I won, you lost." Baby let one stack of chips rattle through her fingers. "More luck next time."
She gave him a wide grin which faltered when her thoughts went into what Dean assumed was the same direction his thoughts went. To midnight. To turning back or maybe not.
By now the lines of pain were prominent on her face again and the way Baby shifted, searching for a more comfortable position, Dean knew it was time to give her a rest.
"It's almost time for your next dose of the good stuff." Dean joked and motioned for Bobby to get off the couch. Getting the hint Bobby stood up and gave her some space. "Could you get us the first aid kit?" Dean asked when the older hunter stood awkwardly at the side.
"I want to redress the wound." Dean explained to her. "And then you should lay down for a bit."
Expecting an argument, she was a Winchester after all, Dean put on his stern face but she just nodded to his plan and unbuttoned her jeans.
"Okay." Sam drew the word out while he stood up with his hands raised in defense. "I'm going to … do … something … over there."
"He's such a prude." With amusement Dean watched his brother retreating to the kitchen.
"And you're better than him?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Please."
"What?" Dean shot back but was interrupted by Bobby bringing the first aid kit. Not long after that Dean tucked Baby in and with a happy sigh she snuggled deeper into her pillow.
Sam and Bobby used the rest of the afternoon to do more research but so far they'd found nothing that would explain Baby's condition. It looked like she really was the one in a million chance.
Later in the afternoon Baby woke up just in time for the little BBQ Bobby had planned.
"Sorry, no beer for the lady on the happy juice." Dean raised his bottle in a mock salute and Baby stuck her tongue out at him.
However, even without beer Baby enjoyed her steak and Dean nearly forgot his own one over watching her. He knew it was kinda creepy but he wanted to burn this memory into his mind. Baby with Sam and Bobby, laughing and having a good time. His family was complete and happy and not too badly injured. What more could he ask for?
Later they settled down with popcorn and chips for a Transporter marathon. Dean loved the first movie, the second one was a good one and he doubted they'd reach the third one.
"That blew up good." Baby hooted and nearly kicked the popcorn bowl off the table. Turned out Baby was into action movies, not that it surprised Dean. She cheered at the car chases and the over the top action and Dean silently promised her a three-day action movie marathon next chance he got.
They were in the middle of the second movie when Sam became restless. He glanced at his watch every other minute and out of the corner of his eye he watched Baby.
Baby didn't notice, she was engrossed in the movie, but Dean threw his brother a questioning glance.
"It's almost midnight." Bobby spoke up instead and paused the movie. "How do you feel?"
Baby frowned at that. "Okay, I think."
"It's still five minutes." Sam said. "And we don't know if anything is going to happen. However, we probably should go outside, just in case."
"Don't get me wrong, I like you, I really do." Bobby added with an apologizing smile. "But I'd rather not have you in your car form in my living room."
That was why they stood in front of Bobby's house in the middle of the night. Sam and Bobby kept their distance, just in case, but Dean stood close to Baby with one arm around her shoulder while she tried to not put weight on her injured leg.
"How long do we have to stand here?" Dean asked when the nightly chill crept under his clothes. He should have put on his jacket.
"We'll know in a few minutes." Sam replied.
"I feel ridiculous." Dean muttered low enough for only Baby to hear.
"Same here." She answered the same way and leaned more heavily on him. "Thank you, Dean."
The last bit came out of the blue. "For what?"
"Everything." She turned her head to smile at him. But then her smile faltered and she pushed him away.
"Step back!" She screamed and Dean staggered backwards.
"Step back." She repeated calmer but with pure horror on her face. Everything in Dean screamed to get back to her, she was in pain and close to panic, but he knew it was a bad idea to be close to her if she turned back. And Sam's hand was on his shoulder, holding him back.
Somehow Dean expected a Hollywood worthy change, the human body slowly morphing into a car. Instead it was over in the blink of an eye. One second human Baby stood there, hunched over but clearly human, and the next second the Impala was back. It was rather anticlimactic.
Chapter 15
back to Masterpost