Hush Little Baby Pt 2
The bus pulled into the parking lot of the diner, gears grinding as the engine stopped. The rough bump and pitch of the big vehicle shook the passengers and those lucky enough to have fallen asleep were abruptly hurled back to consciousness. Jimmy shifted in his seat neck cramping as he stretched and rose from the sweaty vinyl.
Groaning he rose on unsteady legs and staggered to the front door. Just as he stepped down from the bus the driver announced a two hour lay-over for lunch before moving on to the next stop. Grumbling under his breath Jimmy patted his pockets down and pulled out his cell phone; the front screen clock said it was one thirty in the afternoon. He sighed then glanced around. There was a Denny’s across the street and half a block down; head hanging dejectedly he trudged down the sidewalk.
The interior of the building was cool and dim and Jimmy waited patiently at the desk for the hostess to seat him. His stomach was beginning to rumble and he sighed again, at least his morning sickness seemed to be holding steady at early mornings. But still uncertain about his tolerance for riding the bus he ordered simple food, oatmeal and fruit.
After eating Jimmy decided to stretch his legs a little, knowing how cramped the bus seats were. Tucking his wallet into his pants pocket he ambled out of the restaurant and headed down the street in the opposite direction of the bus station. Glancing at his watch he made sure that he kept an eye on the time, not wanting to miss his bus. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that his wandering had taken off the main street and into a little side alley behind a ramshackle warehouse.
Jimmy was half way down the alley before he realized the danger and stopped. By that time two disreputable looking men in ragged clothes appeared out of the shadowy doorway of the little attached office building. The taller and slimmer figure moved to his left as the short heavyset man slipped around to the right. They were still several feet from him but Jimmy knew that no matter which way he ran one of the men would be able to intercept him.
They weren’t being overtly threatening, not now, but Jimmy had a feeling deep in his bones that they were up to no good. He didn’t have much money in his wallet, his credit cards and atm card were tucked into the pocket of his shaving kit locked in the bus. So hopefully they were just looking for some easy cash. He started to reach for the wallet when the larger man grabbed his arm.
“Hold on sweet thing, just take it easy. We don’t want your money.”
Now Jimmy felt the first stirrings of real panic setting in. He desperately didn’t want to be raped. Gagging at the overpowering stench of body odor coming off the thick body clasping his arm Jimmy paled.
“Please, leave me alone…I’m pregnant. You’ll hurt my baby.”
“So you’re a breeder then…got another little angel pot in your belly?”
Jimmy flinched, “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The heavyset man grinned, eyes flashing inky black, “Oh come on sweetheart. We know who you are, what you are. An empty vessel is still a vessel.”
The thin tendrils of panic churned into gut wrenching fear as Jimmy began struggling in the taller man’s grasp.
Suddenly another figure rose up out of the shadows and Jimmy cringed. He was tall, taller than both demons holding Jimmy. With a quick half jump forward the man caught the taller demon by the arm twisting it viciously and Jimmy yelped as his arm was jerked free. The heavyset demon turned from his prey to the new figure but found himself bowled over by his buddy.
Jimmy backed away and the tall man turned on him, “Run!” he hissed.
Jimmy didn’t need to be told twice as he stumbled then fled the alley. From a safe distance he spared a glance backwards. His savior was putting all of his considerable fighting skills into pounding the life out of the two demons, and Jimmy paused. There was something familiar about the man, but he couldn’t place it. The stooped broad shoulders and the slender face framed by a thick bushy beard and long brown hair.
Taking a deep shuddering breath Jimmy paused torn between running for his life and helping the man who saved him. But the tall figure half-turned, “Go, I can handle this trash myself.”
Without further urging Jimmy cast one apologetic glance at the three men in the alley then hissed in surprised as the taller man’s big hands came up and the taller of the two demons sagged. There was a sickening crunch of bone and the body slipped from his savior’s hands falling to the ground as a thick cloud of black smoke poured out of the deceased man’s mouth and nose.
The second demon shook his head staggering back from a round kick to the stomach, then tried to flee. The bearded man grasped his neck twisting sharply. The demon grunted hands scrabbling for purchase on the man’s sweat-slicked skin, but he found none. Slowly the big hands twisted wringing the life out of the demon and he slumped to the ground, black smoke dissipating on the thin afternoon breeze.
Without sparing a glance at the two crumpled forms littering the alley floor the tall figure stretched wincing in pain then walked quickly to the main street. Glancing over his shoulder at the small man almost running for the bus station he frowned. With a sigh the man walked down the street in the opposite direction until he reached a battered white Mustang. Climbing inside he started the engine and headed out of town.
*&&&*
Dean rummaged through the dresser drawers looking for his last few items of clothing. Usually, he and Sam had just lived out of their duffel bags, never even bothering to unpack, but Jimmy had insisted that there “was a place for everything and everything in its place”. Dean had scoffed but something warm had unfurled inside him, and even though Castiel was gone, Jimmy’s fresh-scrubbed smiling face had started softening the blow of losing the angel just a little more each day. And Dean’s confusion had grown each day too. Until he was beginning to suspect that it might not have been the angel he had been in love with after all. And that really stung.
Taking a deep breath the hunter folded his clothes into the bag and zipped it close. He looked around, any trace of evidence that he or the angel…other man… had lived in the room was thoroughly gone.
A crumpled paper bag was shoved into the corner of the room between the bed and the night table. Leaning over the table Dean fished the bag out hearing the faint tinkle of glass. He glanced inside. Two bottles of Jack Daniels were nestled inside, the amber liquid glowing with a mellow golden light. His mouth watered at the sight, but Dean took a deep breath. Scrubbing the back of his hand over his mouth the hunter clutched at the bag then turned abruptly tossing it into the trash can beside the door. He’d had enough.
Turning once again Dean surveyed the interior of the room wincing at the sight of the rumpled beds, and grubby carpets. Just that morning Dean had found out he was going to be a father. Just that morning he had thrown away his last chance for happiness by being a drunken slob. Jimmy hadn’t deserved being treated like that, being called a whore. And he certainly didn’t deserve to be abandoned, left alone and pregnant.
Sunlight stabbed Dean in the eyes as he strode out into the parking lot. Flipping the keys to the Impala in his fingers he unlocked the trunk stowing his bag inside, and then walked around to the driver’s door.
He slid into the seat, fingers gripping the steering wheel. Sighing Dean glanced down the street. Far off into the distance he could just make out the blue and orange Transamerica bus sign. Well, if Jimmy was heading anywhere it would be home, and the only way he could get to Illinois from this backwater little town was by bus. Dean seemed to recall he had even bought the ticket himself. He turned the engine over and pulled out of the parking lot.
As the sign for the bus terminal grew larger his nerves seemed to settle. Dean grinned flicking on the tape deck he popped in a tape. The sounds of ‘Dazed and Confused’ filled the interior of the car and Dean hummed absently along with the song. He smiled again.
First stop the bus station, then he’d just follow the route of the bus all the way to Pontiac if he had to. But alone in the car Dean could travel faster than the bus, and he knew he’d catch up with them somewhere along the way. He’d catch up with the bus, and talk to Jimmy. The other man just had to listen to reason. Dean would make this right. He had to; his future depended on it.
Safe inside the bus again Jimmy settled back. His knees still felt shaky but he was calming down. Even though Castiel was gone Jimmy was still marked, and it made him angry. How was he supposed to go back to life if every demon left on the planet could still sense that he was a vessel? Was his child going to face the same uncertainty? Fury bubbled up deep inside him. When the angel had come to him Jimmy has surrendered himself to God’s Will, done his work. Wasn’t it enough? Now he had to live the rest of his life in fear that someday demons would show up on his doorstep?
Grumbling under his breath the man settled back watching the scenery slip past the bus as they flew down the highway. He was going back to Pontiac, back to his job as an ad salesman, although he might look for something else since he now had to worry about supporting a child. And how was that fair? Jimmy had given Castiel the use of his body to fight a holy war, not sleep around with God’s chosen warrior. Then the angel had traipsed merrily back to heaven and Jimmy had woken up confused and empty. Well, not so empty after all. Carefully he rested a slender hand on his belly, still flat, showing no sign of the life nestled within.
Dean leaned against the door of the car as he watched the numbers flash on the gas pump. The amount of gas and the price made him wince. While he dearly loved his baby she was a heavy drinker, and that hurt for someone in his less that salubrious business. Carefully he peeled the required bills off the wad of cash folded into his wallet and passed them to the clerk standing nervously by, watching the older man closely as if he half expected Dean to try and leap across the car and peel out without paying. Dean grunted he supposed he just had that air of desperation around him.
He pulled the Chevy out of the station and headed down the road to the highway. Dean wasn’t sure but he was more than willing to bet that Jimmy had taken the first bus to Pontiac and Dean knew it was a long trip. If he kept the pedal to the metal all the way he'd get to Illinois long before the Transamerica bus trundled in.
Deep inside Dean didn’t know why he had reacted to Jimmy’s pregnancy the way he had. Yeah, he was hurt and pissed that the angel was gone, but that wasn’t Jimmy’s fault. He hadn’t chased Castiel away. And the pregnancy sure as hell wasn’t Jimmy’s fault either. He had been tucked neatly inside his own body, for all intents and purposes, dead to the world. Dean was embarrassed about Jimmy finding out that Castiel and Dean hadn’t kept things strictly above board. They had played fast and loose with the rules of angelic possession, using Jimmy’s body for their own pleasure and truthfully Jimmy was never meant to know. Dean supposed, though, that Jimmy would figure it out eventually, after-all the guy had been a virgin and he sure as hell wasn’t any more.
As Dean shifted the big old black car into overdrive, he watched the miles slip away. His mind drifted into a soft dream state and he wondered where his brother had gone. Sammy had taken freeing Lucifer hard, even if Dean had been the one to set the chain of events in motion. Sam’s own involvement was a bitter pill for him to swallow but he had hung on to the very end, to seeing the last battle through then he had just slipped away quietly one night, and Dean hadn’t heard from him since. He had planned on spending these first few free months since the world didn’t end looking for Sam, trying to piece together his battered little family, but the angels had departed and Dean had prayed for one last time, asking for Castiel to be forgiven, accepted back into the Heavenly Host, and now he was paying the consequences.
*&&&*
The bus rumbled to a halt at the station in Salt Lake City. Just as Jimmy rounded the corner of the street and headed toward the diner for a late dinner he glanced over his shoulder at the bus. Far up the street he could just make out the form of a white Ford Mustang, an older model, and one that Jimmy vaguely recognized from somewhere. He shivered thoughts of his earlier encounter with the demons still fresh in his mind.
A cold wind swept up the street and he clutched his jacket tighter around his slim form. With a sigh Jimmy absently rubbed a hand over his still flat belly feeling a little wave of panic wash over him at the thought that this tiny spark of life would someday be evident to the world. His body would swell, he'd get rounder and everyone would know that he’d had sex with another man. Jimmy felt his ears go red from shame. Anger and bitterness welled deep inside him, but Jimmy forced them back. He’d loved Dean Winchester from afar, through the angel. But when Castiel has asked for permission to use his body, and fool that he was, Jimmy had consented, this was not what he had meant.
Another thought pulled at Jimmy as he settled into his seat, listlessly pulling the menu over. This baby wasn’t always going to be in his belly. He was going to have a child to raise. Well, at least he hoped his mother would be happy. What with all the crap she had made him and his older brothers listen to, when they were growing up, about ungrateful children and how hard parenting was.
Then all crap she had been giving him, since he had turned thirty, about giving her a grandchild. Although Jimmy was sure that his parents would have preferred it if he had married a nice girl and gotten her pregnant. Or failing that if Jimmy had been in a committed relationship with a nice, acceptable, man-from their church, and had gotten pregnant they might have still have been happy. But now he was going to turn up on their doorstep, without a job and pregnant out of wedlock by a drifter whom they had never met. Congratulations Mom you’re finally getting what you deserve.
*&&&*
The Impala pulled into the Transamerica bus terminal in Salt Lake City just after six o’clock that evening. Dean groaned, for once the damned bus was running right on time. Well, at least he was on the right route. Not hampered by multiple stops, or the speed limit, the elder Winchester has been able to keep a steady pace with the bus and even close the distance between him and Jimmy to a five hour span. If he kept running all out he’d be able to intercept the bus at the next stop in Reno.
Pulling a three point turn in the parking lot Dean started to pull out onto the street and head down to the first gas station he saw when he caught sight of three police cruisers and the coroner’s wagon surrounding an alley not too far from the station.
With a frown he backed the car into a parking spot and turned off the engine. What if something had happened to Jimmy? Taking a deep breath Dean reached into the glove compartment searching for an appropriate ID before clipping a plastic badge identifying him as a reporter for the Channel 4 news onto his shirt front. He had no way of knowing if Salt Lake City actually had a Channel 4 news team but he was willing to bet it did. Most local news was on one of the low number channels on the television line up.
Pulling a small notepad out of the car Dean ambled over to the first police cruiser smiling at the blue uniform clad officer writing on a small sheet of paper. The officer glanced up nodding distractedly.
“Hey, Officer…Ballard,” Dean said amiably. “So got anything for me today?”
Ballard sighed, “Not really you know the drill. The PIO will make a statement when the department is ready to release information to the public.”
Dean shrugged, “Got nothing else. How ‘bout something off the record?”
The cop frowned then hesitated, and Dean smiled. Finally Officer Ballard shook his head, “Weirdest damned thing ever,” he said.
“Oh yeah?” Dean urged gently.
“Yeah these two bums turned up dead. Now that in and of itself ain’t so weird, but their heads were damn near twisted off.”
“Is the scene secured or can I take a little look-see?”
“Naw, CSI is still giving it a once over. But there ain’t a thing in there. No blood, no weapon, no footprints. Nothin’ except that smell.”
“Smell?” Dean asked. The officer nodded.
“Yeah stinks to high heaven in there. Thought it was a gas leak at first.”
“Why did it smell like gas, rotten eggs maybe?”
Ballard nodded, “Yeah you know the stuff they stick in gas, except there ain’t a gas line in the alley. Nobody can figure out what the hell it is. But both bodies reek of it...”
Dean frowned, “Its sulfur. Both bodies probably have sulfur on ‘em.”
Now the officer frowned, “How do you know?”
Backing away Dean flipped his notebook closed, “Just a hunch. Sulfur is pretty rank.”
Hurrying back to the Impala Dean slid into the seat tossing the badge and the notepad into the glove compartment. He frowned. The two bums reeked of sulfur, so they had been possessed. And something or someone had wrenched the demons out with such force it had broken the men’s necks. So a hunter had been trailing the demons, and they had been way too close to the bus station for it to be a coincidence. Demons were tracking Jimmy. And Jimmy still stank of Angel. Killing an angelic vessel was high on the ‘to do’ list for most demons, a pregnant vessel would be a real prize. A two in one deal that most demons would sell their rotten, stinking souls for, if they still had them.
Sighing the elder Winchester brother cranked the engine over. The big car roared to life. He still needed to get on the highway. The bus was scheduled to pull into the station in Reno next, and Dean intended to be there waiting. He had one shot at this and he wasn’t going to screw it up.
*&&&*
Jimmy was dozing when the bus shifted causing him to slide across the seat. He jerked upright staring out at the dark scenery surrounding him. They were on some rural stretch of highway, few lights dotting the roadside.
Groaning he swallowed throat dry. Fumbling in a plastic bag of groceries he had bought at the last stop Jimmy came up with a bottle of water. The fluid was lukewarm but it felt like heaven on his tongue and throat. He gulped down the rest of the bottle and settled back sighing. Slowly his head drifted down as sleep overtook him again.
A voice stirred in the back of Jimmy’s head. A solid familiar reassuring presence that he had thought was long gone. The voice grew in volume until the young man winced in his head.
“Jimmy,” the deep rumbling growl stirred in his brain. Jimmy flinched and the voice reduced in volume. “I’m sorry. I had forgotten how I sounded to you. I have not had the need for human communication in some time.”
“What do you want Castiel?”
“Only to see if you are well. I know that you are with child.”
Jimmy uttered a short sharp bark of laughter, “With child? What is this the Annunciation? I thought that was Gabriel’s thing.”
“Thing?” the angel’s voice was clear and sharp as a bell in the back of his mind. “Yes, well, my brother is no longer. But I am sorry. Would you have preferred me to say ‘Behold I bring you glad tidings‘?”
Now Jimmy snorted, “Glad for who Cas?”
The angel’s voice was serene, “I think you know who.”
Jimmy frowned, “Would that be before or after he threw me out. “
Now Castiel was chiding, “Things change, Jimmy. Do not get back on the bus when it reaches the station in Nevada.”
“Why?”
Castiel’s voice became stern, warning. “Just wait. Do not leave the station, James.”
Jimmy jolted awake with the angel’s voice still ringing in his head. The bus took a curve a bit too sharply and the vehicle swerved across the road. The passengers stirred a low grumbling working its way through the crowd before they subsided into silence again.
Try as he might Jimmy could not fall asleep again so he was clutching at his carry-on bags and calculating how to get the driver to remove his luggage from the cargo hold when the bus pulled into the Reno station just after six o’clock in the morning.
There was a prerequisite amount of grumbling from the driver which Jimmy had to soothe with a sweet smile and large cup of expensive coffee before he could collect his things from the cargo hold of the big Transamerica bus. But he had his meager belongings piled at his feet when the steel beast pulled out of the station.
Jimmy turned surveying the bus station. There was a small terminal with large glass windows and stucco walls surrounded by a large parking lot. Several buses were still idling in the lot, curls of black smoke drifting behind them like dark tails. He sighed Castiel had been decidedly vague when warning Jimmy to get off the bus. Of course the angel was always decidedly vague. Maybe if Castiel had been more forthright Jimmy wouldn’t find himself in the situation he was now in.
Squaring his shoulders Jimmy started walking down the sidewalk toward a diner at the corner of the intersection. A white mustang broke from the oncoming traffic swerving into the turn lane and making a slow right so that it cut down the street in front of him. Jimmy paused watching the car go by. It seemed awfully familiar and he racked his brain trying to figure out just where he had seen it before.
When Jimmy reached the intersection he started to step off the curb as another car pulled up next to him. The driver shot him a toothy grin and Jimmy felt his stomach drop. He recognized that intent glimmer of hatred as demonic before seeing the drivers eyes roll over like a shark. The inky blackness swept over the dull hazel and the demon licked his lips, “Got you now, Angel.”
Backing up Jimmy thrust out a hand, “Sorry but you’ve really got a wrong number here, guy. The angel is long gone. I’m just an empty vessel.”
“Your belly ain’t empty. And that little bugger inside you stinks of angel.”
“And you just stink,” a voice rolled across the sidewalk. Jerking around the demon pulled the car up onto the sidewalk and Jimmy half-stumbled, half jumped out of the way. Turning he caught sight of the same tall, disheveled figure who had killed the two demons tracking Jimmy earlier. He frowned the tall slender form seemed so tantalizingly familiar.
The demon flung open the door and the hunter charged around the back end of the car catching the driver by the throat, “Just give up and die. Make this easy on all of us.”
“Like you’re gonna kill me in broad daylight in front of all these…” the demon gagged. Jimmy leapt forward blocking the driver and the hunter from view as a police cruiser slowly rolled past. Turning the human hissed at the taller figure.
“If you’re going to kill him do it quick before the cops come back.”
Hazel eyes snapped to Jimmy locking on his face and the taller man nodded, grunting. Jimmy stepped back frowning, “Do I know you? You seem really familiar…”
“Just let it go.”
The sudden snapping of bone made Jimmy swallow hard, and the hunter motioned to him,” Get going before the cops come back.”
“Wait,” Jimmy said, “Just wait.”
But the tall figure had ducked into his car swerving sharply back into traffic. Jimmy started to run out into the street when the screeching of tires sounded and he whirled coming face to face with a big, black car and a pissed off looking driver. Suddenly the door burst open and the man staggered out, “Get out of the street you idiot!”
Jimmy glare then stepped back, “Dean?”
Dean pulled to a halt coughing then clearing his throat, “Jimmy…I’ve been.”
Waving imperiously Jimmy jerked the passenger side door open and tossed his bags into the back seat. Jumping into the Impala he snarled, “Get in and drive Dean. I hear sirens and I’m betting that someone called the police. I don’t want to spend the night in jail do you?”
Groaning he rose on unsteady legs and staggered to the front door. Just as he stepped down from the bus the driver announced a two hour lay-over for lunch before moving on to the next stop. Grumbling under his breath Jimmy patted his pockets down and pulled out his cell phone; the front screen clock said it was one thirty in the afternoon. He sighed then glanced around. There was a Denny’s across the street and half a block down; head hanging dejectedly he trudged down the sidewalk.
The interior of the building was cool and dim and Jimmy waited patiently at the desk for the hostess to seat him. His stomach was beginning to rumble and he sighed again, at least his morning sickness seemed to be holding steady at early mornings. But still uncertain about his tolerance for riding the bus he ordered simple food, oatmeal and fruit.
After eating Jimmy decided to stretch his legs a little, knowing how cramped the bus seats were. Tucking his wallet into his pants pocket he ambled out of the restaurant and headed down the street in the opposite direction of the bus station. Glancing at his watch he made sure that he kept an eye on the time, not wanting to miss his bus. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that his wandering had taken off the main street and into a little side alley behind a ramshackle warehouse.
Jimmy was half way down the alley before he realized the danger and stopped. By that time two disreputable looking men in ragged clothes appeared out of the shadowy doorway of the little attached office building. The taller and slimmer figure moved to his left as the short heavyset man slipped around to the right. They were still several feet from him but Jimmy knew that no matter which way he ran one of the men would be able to intercept him.
They weren’t being overtly threatening, not now, but Jimmy had a feeling deep in his bones that they were up to no good. He didn’t have much money in his wallet, his credit cards and atm card were tucked into the pocket of his shaving kit locked in the bus. So hopefully they were just looking for some easy cash. He started to reach for the wallet when the larger man grabbed his arm.
“Hold on sweet thing, just take it easy. We don’t want your money.”
Now Jimmy felt the first stirrings of real panic setting in. He desperately didn’t want to be raped. Gagging at the overpowering stench of body odor coming off the thick body clasping his arm Jimmy paled.
“Please, leave me alone…I’m pregnant. You’ll hurt my baby.”
“So you’re a breeder then…got another little angel pot in your belly?”
Jimmy flinched, “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The heavyset man grinned, eyes flashing inky black, “Oh come on sweetheart. We know who you are, what you are. An empty vessel is still a vessel.”
The thin tendrils of panic churned into gut wrenching fear as Jimmy began struggling in the taller man’s grasp.
Suddenly another figure rose up out of the shadows and Jimmy cringed. He was tall, taller than both demons holding Jimmy. With a quick half jump forward the man caught the taller demon by the arm twisting it viciously and Jimmy yelped as his arm was jerked free. The heavyset demon turned from his prey to the new figure but found himself bowled over by his buddy.
Jimmy backed away and the tall man turned on him, “Run!” he hissed.
Jimmy didn’t need to be told twice as he stumbled then fled the alley. From a safe distance he spared a glance backwards. His savior was putting all of his considerable fighting skills into pounding the life out of the two demons, and Jimmy paused. There was something familiar about the man, but he couldn’t place it. The stooped broad shoulders and the slender face framed by a thick bushy beard and long brown hair.
Taking a deep shuddering breath Jimmy paused torn between running for his life and helping the man who saved him. But the tall figure half-turned, “Go, I can handle this trash myself.”
Without further urging Jimmy cast one apologetic glance at the three men in the alley then hissed in surprised as the taller man’s big hands came up and the taller of the two demons sagged. There was a sickening crunch of bone and the body slipped from his savior’s hands falling to the ground as a thick cloud of black smoke poured out of the deceased man’s mouth and nose.
The second demon shook his head staggering back from a round kick to the stomach, then tried to flee. The bearded man grasped his neck twisting sharply. The demon grunted hands scrabbling for purchase on the man’s sweat-slicked skin, but he found none. Slowly the big hands twisted wringing the life out of the demon and he slumped to the ground, black smoke dissipating on the thin afternoon breeze.
Without sparing a glance at the two crumpled forms littering the alley floor the tall figure stretched wincing in pain then walked quickly to the main street. Glancing over his shoulder at the small man almost running for the bus station he frowned. With a sigh the man walked down the street in the opposite direction until he reached a battered white Mustang. Climbing inside he started the engine and headed out of town.
*&&&*
Dean rummaged through the dresser drawers looking for his last few items of clothing. Usually, he and Sam had just lived out of their duffel bags, never even bothering to unpack, but Jimmy had insisted that there “was a place for everything and everything in its place”. Dean had scoffed but something warm had unfurled inside him, and even though Castiel was gone, Jimmy’s fresh-scrubbed smiling face had started softening the blow of losing the angel just a little more each day. And Dean’s confusion had grown each day too. Until he was beginning to suspect that it might not have been the angel he had been in love with after all. And that really stung.
Taking a deep breath the hunter folded his clothes into the bag and zipped it close. He looked around, any trace of evidence that he or the angel…other man… had lived in the room was thoroughly gone.
A crumpled paper bag was shoved into the corner of the room between the bed and the night table. Leaning over the table Dean fished the bag out hearing the faint tinkle of glass. He glanced inside. Two bottles of Jack Daniels were nestled inside, the amber liquid glowing with a mellow golden light. His mouth watered at the sight, but Dean took a deep breath. Scrubbing the back of his hand over his mouth the hunter clutched at the bag then turned abruptly tossing it into the trash can beside the door. He’d had enough.
Turning once again Dean surveyed the interior of the room wincing at the sight of the rumpled beds, and grubby carpets. Just that morning Dean had found out he was going to be a father. Just that morning he had thrown away his last chance for happiness by being a drunken slob. Jimmy hadn’t deserved being treated like that, being called a whore. And he certainly didn’t deserve to be abandoned, left alone and pregnant.
Sunlight stabbed Dean in the eyes as he strode out into the parking lot. Flipping the keys to the Impala in his fingers he unlocked the trunk stowing his bag inside, and then walked around to the driver’s door.
He slid into the seat, fingers gripping the steering wheel. Sighing Dean glanced down the street. Far off into the distance he could just make out the blue and orange Transamerica bus sign. Well, if Jimmy was heading anywhere it would be home, and the only way he could get to Illinois from this backwater little town was by bus. Dean seemed to recall he had even bought the ticket himself. He turned the engine over and pulled out of the parking lot.
As the sign for the bus terminal grew larger his nerves seemed to settle. Dean grinned flicking on the tape deck he popped in a tape. The sounds of ‘Dazed and Confused’ filled the interior of the car and Dean hummed absently along with the song. He smiled again.
First stop the bus station, then he’d just follow the route of the bus all the way to Pontiac if he had to. But alone in the car Dean could travel faster than the bus, and he knew he’d catch up with them somewhere along the way. He’d catch up with the bus, and talk to Jimmy. The other man just had to listen to reason. Dean would make this right. He had to; his future depended on it.
Safe inside the bus again Jimmy settled back. His knees still felt shaky but he was calming down. Even though Castiel was gone Jimmy was still marked, and it made him angry. How was he supposed to go back to life if every demon left on the planet could still sense that he was a vessel? Was his child going to face the same uncertainty? Fury bubbled up deep inside him. When the angel had come to him Jimmy has surrendered himself to God’s Will, done his work. Wasn’t it enough? Now he had to live the rest of his life in fear that someday demons would show up on his doorstep?
Grumbling under his breath the man settled back watching the scenery slip past the bus as they flew down the highway. He was going back to Pontiac, back to his job as an ad salesman, although he might look for something else since he now had to worry about supporting a child. And how was that fair? Jimmy had given Castiel the use of his body to fight a holy war, not sleep around with God’s chosen warrior. Then the angel had traipsed merrily back to heaven and Jimmy had woken up confused and empty. Well, not so empty after all. Carefully he rested a slender hand on his belly, still flat, showing no sign of the life nestled within.
Dean leaned against the door of the car as he watched the numbers flash on the gas pump. The amount of gas and the price made him wince. While he dearly loved his baby she was a heavy drinker, and that hurt for someone in his less that salubrious business. Carefully he peeled the required bills off the wad of cash folded into his wallet and passed them to the clerk standing nervously by, watching the older man closely as if he half expected Dean to try and leap across the car and peel out without paying. Dean grunted he supposed he just had that air of desperation around him.
He pulled the Chevy out of the station and headed down the road to the highway. Dean wasn’t sure but he was more than willing to bet that Jimmy had taken the first bus to Pontiac and Dean knew it was a long trip. If he kept the pedal to the metal all the way he'd get to Illinois long before the Transamerica bus trundled in.
Deep inside Dean didn’t know why he had reacted to Jimmy’s pregnancy the way he had. Yeah, he was hurt and pissed that the angel was gone, but that wasn’t Jimmy’s fault. He hadn’t chased Castiel away. And the pregnancy sure as hell wasn’t Jimmy’s fault either. He had been tucked neatly inside his own body, for all intents and purposes, dead to the world. Dean was embarrassed about Jimmy finding out that Castiel and Dean hadn’t kept things strictly above board. They had played fast and loose with the rules of angelic possession, using Jimmy’s body for their own pleasure and truthfully Jimmy was never meant to know. Dean supposed, though, that Jimmy would figure it out eventually, after-all the guy had been a virgin and he sure as hell wasn’t any more.
As Dean shifted the big old black car into overdrive, he watched the miles slip away. His mind drifted into a soft dream state and he wondered where his brother had gone. Sammy had taken freeing Lucifer hard, even if Dean had been the one to set the chain of events in motion. Sam’s own involvement was a bitter pill for him to swallow but he had hung on to the very end, to seeing the last battle through then he had just slipped away quietly one night, and Dean hadn’t heard from him since. He had planned on spending these first few free months since the world didn’t end looking for Sam, trying to piece together his battered little family, but the angels had departed and Dean had prayed for one last time, asking for Castiel to be forgiven, accepted back into the Heavenly Host, and now he was paying the consequences.
*&&&*
The bus rumbled to a halt at the station in Salt Lake City. Just as Jimmy rounded the corner of the street and headed toward the diner for a late dinner he glanced over his shoulder at the bus. Far up the street he could just make out the form of a white Ford Mustang, an older model, and one that Jimmy vaguely recognized from somewhere. He shivered thoughts of his earlier encounter with the demons still fresh in his mind.
A cold wind swept up the street and he clutched his jacket tighter around his slim form. With a sigh Jimmy absently rubbed a hand over his still flat belly feeling a little wave of panic wash over him at the thought that this tiny spark of life would someday be evident to the world. His body would swell, he'd get rounder and everyone would know that he’d had sex with another man. Jimmy felt his ears go red from shame. Anger and bitterness welled deep inside him, but Jimmy forced them back. He’d loved Dean Winchester from afar, through the angel. But when Castiel has asked for permission to use his body, and fool that he was, Jimmy had consented, this was not what he had meant.
Another thought pulled at Jimmy as he settled into his seat, listlessly pulling the menu over. This baby wasn’t always going to be in his belly. He was going to have a child to raise. Well, at least he hoped his mother would be happy. What with all the crap she had made him and his older brothers listen to, when they were growing up, about ungrateful children and how hard parenting was.
Then all crap she had been giving him, since he had turned thirty, about giving her a grandchild. Although Jimmy was sure that his parents would have preferred it if he had married a nice girl and gotten her pregnant. Or failing that if Jimmy had been in a committed relationship with a nice, acceptable, man-from their church, and had gotten pregnant they might have still have been happy. But now he was going to turn up on their doorstep, without a job and pregnant out of wedlock by a drifter whom they had never met. Congratulations Mom you’re finally getting what you deserve.
*&&&*
The Impala pulled into the Transamerica bus terminal in Salt Lake City just after six o’clock that evening. Dean groaned, for once the damned bus was running right on time. Well, at least he was on the right route. Not hampered by multiple stops, or the speed limit, the elder Winchester has been able to keep a steady pace with the bus and even close the distance between him and Jimmy to a five hour span. If he kept running all out he’d be able to intercept the bus at the next stop in Reno.
Pulling a three point turn in the parking lot Dean started to pull out onto the street and head down to the first gas station he saw when he caught sight of three police cruisers and the coroner’s wagon surrounding an alley not too far from the station.
With a frown he backed the car into a parking spot and turned off the engine. What if something had happened to Jimmy? Taking a deep breath Dean reached into the glove compartment searching for an appropriate ID before clipping a plastic badge identifying him as a reporter for the Channel 4 news onto his shirt front. He had no way of knowing if Salt Lake City actually had a Channel 4 news team but he was willing to bet it did. Most local news was on one of the low number channels on the television line up.
Pulling a small notepad out of the car Dean ambled over to the first police cruiser smiling at the blue uniform clad officer writing on a small sheet of paper. The officer glanced up nodding distractedly.
“Hey, Officer…Ballard,” Dean said amiably. “So got anything for me today?”
Ballard sighed, “Not really you know the drill. The PIO will make a statement when the department is ready to release information to the public.”
Dean shrugged, “Got nothing else. How ‘bout something off the record?”
The cop frowned then hesitated, and Dean smiled. Finally Officer Ballard shook his head, “Weirdest damned thing ever,” he said.
“Oh yeah?” Dean urged gently.
“Yeah these two bums turned up dead. Now that in and of itself ain’t so weird, but their heads were damn near twisted off.”
“Is the scene secured or can I take a little look-see?”
“Naw, CSI is still giving it a once over. But there ain’t a thing in there. No blood, no weapon, no footprints. Nothin’ except that smell.”
“Smell?” Dean asked. The officer nodded.
“Yeah stinks to high heaven in there. Thought it was a gas leak at first.”
“Why did it smell like gas, rotten eggs maybe?”
Ballard nodded, “Yeah you know the stuff they stick in gas, except there ain’t a gas line in the alley. Nobody can figure out what the hell it is. But both bodies reek of it...”
Dean frowned, “Its sulfur. Both bodies probably have sulfur on ‘em.”
Now the officer frowned, “How do you know?”
Backing away Dean flipped his notebook closed, “Just a hunch. Sulfur is pretty rank.”
Hurrying back to the Impala Dean slid into the seat tossing the badge and the notepad into the glove compartment. He frowned. The two bums reeked of sulfur, so they had been possessed. And something or someone had wrenched the demons out with such force it had broken the men’s necks. So a hunter had been trailing the demons, and they had been way too close to the bus station for it to be a coincidence. Demons were tracking Jimmy. And Jimmy still stank of Angel. Killing an angelic vessel was high on the ‘to do’ list for most demons, a pregnant vessel would be a real prize. A two in one deal that most demons would sell their rotten, stinking souls for, if they still had them.
Sighing the elder Winchester brother cranked the engine over. The big car roared to life. He still needed to get on the highway. The bus was scheduled to pull into the station in Reno next, and Dean intended to be there waiting. He had one shot at this and he wasn’t going to screw it up.
*&&&*
Jimmy was dozing when the bus shifted causing him to slide across the seat. He jerked upright staring out at the dark scenery surrounding him. They were on some rural stretch of highway, few lights dotting the roadside.
Groaning he swallowed throat dry. Fumbling in a plastic bag of groceries he had bought at the last stop Jimmy came up with a bottle of water. The fluid was lukewarm but it felt like heaven on his tongue and throat. He gulped down the rest of the bottle and settled back sighing. Slowly his head drifted down as sleep overtook him again.
A voice stirred in the back of Jimmy’s head. A solid familiar reassuring presence that he had thought was long gone. The voice grew in volume until the young man winced in his head.
“Jimmy,” the deep rumbling growl stirred in his brain. Jimmy flinched and the voice reduced in volume. “I’m sorry. I had forgotten how I sounded to you. I have not had the need for human communication in some time.”
“What do you want Castiel?”
“Only to see if you are well. I know that you are with child.”
Jimmy uttered a short sharp bark of laughter, “With child? What is this the Annunciation? I thought that was Gabriel’s thing.”
“Thing?” the angel’s voice was clear and sharp as a bell in the back of his mind. “Yes, well, my brother is no longer. But I am sorry. Would you have preferred me to say ‘Behold I bring you glad tidings‘?”
Now Jimmy snorted, “Glad for who Cas?”
The angel’s voice was serene, “I think you know who.”
Jimmy frowned, “Would that be before or after he threw me out. “
Now Castiel was chiding, “Things change, Jimmy. Do not get back on the bus when it reaches the station in Nevada.”
“Why?”
Castiel’s voice became stern, warning. “Just wait. Do not leave the station, James.”
Jimmy jolted awake with the angel’s voice still ringing in his head. The bus took a curve a bit too sharply and the vehicle swerved across the road. The passengers stirred a low grumbling working its way through the crowd before they subsided into silence again.
Try as he might Jimmy could not fall asleep again so he was clutching at his carry-on bags and calculating how to get the driver to remove his luggage from the cargo hold when the bus pulled into the Reno station just after six o’clock in the morning.
There was a prerequisite amount of grumbling from the driver which Jimmy had to soothe with a sweet smile and large cup of expensive coffee before he could collect his things from the cargo hold of the big Transamerica bus. But he had his meager belongings piled at his feet when the steel beast pulled out of the station.
Jimmy turned surveying the bus station. There was a small terminal with large glass windows and stucco walls surrounded by a large parking lot. Several buses were still idling in the lot, curls of black smoke drifting behind them like dark tails. He sighed Castiel had been decidedly vague when warning Jimmy to get off the bus. Of course the angel was always decidedly vague. Maybe if Castiel had been more forthright Jimmy wouldn’t find himself in the situation he was now in.
Squaring his shoulders Jimmy started walking down the sidewalk toward a diner at the corner of the intersection. A white mustang broke from the oncoming traffic swerving into the turn lane and making a slow right so that it cut down the street in front of him. Jimmy paused watching the car go by. It seemed awfully familiar and he racked his brain trying to figure out just where he had seen it before.
When Jimmy reached the intersection he started to step off the curb as another car pulled up next to him. The driver shot him a toothy grin and Jimmy felt his stomach drop. He recognized that intent glimmer of hatred as demonic before seeing the drivers eyes roll over like a shark. The inky blackness swept over the dull hazel and the demon licked his lips, “Got you now, Angel.”
Backing up Jimmy thrust out a hand, “Sorry but you’ve really got a wrong number here, guy. The angel is long gone. I’m just an empty vessel.”
“Your belly ain’t empty. And that little bugger inside you stinks of angel.”
“And you just stink,” a voice rolled across the sidewalk. Jerking around the demon pulled the car up onto the sidewalk and Jimmy half-stumbled, half jumped out of the way. Turning he caught sight of the same tall, disheveled figure who had killed the two demons tracking Jimmy earlier. He frowned the tall slender form seemed so tantalizingly familiar.
The demon flung open the door and the hunter charged around the back end of the car catching the driver by the throat, “Just give up and die. Make this easy on all of us.”
“Like you’re gonna kill me in broad daylight in front of all these…” the demon gagged. Jimmy leapt forward blocking the driver and the hunter from view as a police cruiser slowly rolled past. Turning the human hissed at the taller figure.
“If you’re going to kill him do it quick before the cops come back.”
Hazel eyes snapped to Jimmy locking on his face and the taller man nodded, grunting. Jimmy stepped back frowning, “Do I know you? You seem really familiar…”
“Just let it go.”
The sudden snapping of bone made Jimmy swallow hard, and the hunter motioned to him,” Get going before the cops come back.”
“Wait,” Jimmy said, “Just wait.”
But the tall figure had ducked into his car swerving sharply back into traffic. Jimmy started to run out into the street when the screeching of tires sounded and he whirled coming face to face with a big, black car and a pissed off looking driver. Suddenly the door burst open and the man staggered out, “Get out of the street you idiot!”
Jimmy glare then stepped back, “Dean?”
Dean pulled to a halt coughing then clearing his throat, “Jimmy…I’ve been.”
Waving imperiously Jimmy jerked the passenger side door open and tossed his bags into the back seat. Jumping into the Impala he snarled, “Get in and drive Dean. I hear sirens and I’m betting that someone called the police. I don’t want to spend the night in jail do you?”