Somewhere a Clock is Ticking, 1/9 (R, Sam/Dean)
Oh dear god. There are no words for how nervous I am right now. *flails quietly*
Title: Somewhere a Clock is Ticking (Part 1 of 9)
Rating: R
Pairing: Eventual Sam/Dean
Disclaimer: Still not mine, sadly.
Wordcount: Approx. 70k for the fic as a whole.
Betas: So, so much love to zooey_glass04 and aynslee, beta readers and Ameripickers extraordinaire, for all their awesomeness. Thank you, darlings! <333 Zooey also single-handedly saved my sanity by writing the summary. Greater love hath no friend...
Notes: This is the fic I wrote during Nano 2007; I had only seen up to episode 3.04 (Sin City) at the time. This is therefore set post-3.04 and contains spoilers only up to that point; of course, it has now been completely overtaken by canon and is officially AU. Oh well. The fic is complete, and will be posted chapter by chapter as I sort out my life. Title is of course from the Snow Patrol song of the same name.
Summary: When Ben goes missing, Dean has to help, even if it means going in without Sam. By the time he stops to consider the consequences, it's already too late, and Sam's skating dangerously close to the edge in his determination to fix things.
It was such a fucking stupid thing to realize now, when he only had two months left, but there it was: he wanted to live.
Chapter One
The phone call came in the middle of the night.
"They've taken Ben," Lisa said, her voice wavering. "I didn't know who else to..."
It had been over eight months since he'd seen the kid, eight months since Lisa had told him he wasn't the father. But that didn't change a goddamn thing.
"Tell me everything you know," Dean said.
~*~
He drove through the night and reached Cicero in the early evening. Lisa's neighborhood was much as he remembered it: picket fences and happy families, shady trees and perfectly mowed lawns. There was something unnatural about it.
The front door of Lisa's house opened before he even had a chance to knock, and Lisa flung her arms around him. "Oh god, I'm sorry to make you come all this way, but after the - the changeling and everything, I didn't know who else to call. I don't -"
"It's okay, I'm glad you called," Dean told her, squeezing her arm. "Can I take a look at his room?"
"Of course," Lisa said, pulling back and brushing subtly at her eyes. "Come on in."
Ben's room was something else. Dean couldn't help a quiet, admiring whistle at the sight of the AC/DC and Metallica posters on the walls. Damn, but the kid had taste. Dean had almost never stayed anywhere long enough growing up for posters to be an option, and he'd never really thought twice about it at the time. Posters like that, though - that would have been pretty cool.
He headed across to the window, opening it far enough to lean out and check out the wall. No red stains this time, not that he'd really been expecting any. Even changelings could probably learn from their mistakes. Besides, the very fact that Ben was missing, not 'acting oddly', implied this was something different.
"Tell me again what happened," Dean said, closing the window and looking around the room.
"Ben went to bed just like normal," Lisa said helplessly. "Well, he put up as much resistance as usual, but eventually he went and I tucked him in. I read for a few hours, then went to bed myself - I looked in on him on the way past, he was sound asleep."
Dean crossed to the bed while she talked, checking the bedside table, the chest of drawers against the wall, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
"I woke up about... oh, it was almost 2 am. I don't know what woke me, I don't remember hearing anything, but something felt... wrong. And when I got up to check, Ben wasn't in his room." Lisa's voice wavered, but she wasn't crying. Dean felt guiltily grateful: Lisa was entitled, but he was totally out of his depth around crying women.
"And there's no chance he might've left on his own?" he asked. "I'm not saying it's likely, but..."
"No chance," Lisa said firmly. "His window was closed, and I would have heard if he'd gone downstairs. And he wouldn't take off, anyway. He's only eight, and it's - it's just the two of us, you know? He wouldn't go off somewhere without telling me, especially after what happened before."
Dean shifted a stack of CDs and paused, staring. "No. No, I don't think he did."
"What is it?" Lisa asked at once, crossing the room to look for herself.
Dean took a deep breath. Damn, this wasn't good. "It's sulfur."
"Sulfur?" Lisa said. "What - what does that mean?"
Dean looked at her, judging her ability to cope with the truth. She was pale, but rigid with determination, and he knew he couldn't lie to her, not about this. "It means a demon's been here."
Lisa turned several shades paler. "A - oh god. Oh god, Ben..."
"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Dean said. "I'm gonna drive around, ask people some questions, see if I can come up with anything. You're gonna make this house safe for you to stay in tonight, okay? You get salt, lots of it, go to the store if you have to, and you make a salt line in front of all the doors, along every windowsill - hell, play it safe, along all the walls, too. Okay?"
She nodded shakily. "Okay. You'll let me know as soon as you find anything out?"
"I'll call you in an hour or two to check in," Dean promised. "We're gonna find him, Lisa."
Lisa's smile was strained, but real. "You already did once, Dean. I trust you to do it again."
~*~
Dean had barely made it back to the Impala when his cell phone rang.
About time, he thought, and answered it, false cheeriness in his voice. "Hey, Sammy."
"Dean, where the hell are you?" Sam demanded.
Dean felt his lips curl faintly in amusement. Sam had to be really pissed off if he was using the word 'hell' around Dean, a word he'd started stuttering over and avoiding several months previously. If Dean had thought for a minute that it was his feelings Sam was trying to spare, he would probably have punched his brother in the face.
He guessed it was fair enough that Sam was angry right now, since he was far from a happy camper himself.
"Where the hell am I? Where the hell were you, Sam? I wake up in the middle of the night and you're fucking gone!"
Sam heaved a frustrated sigh. "You know I can't tell you, Dean. Look, I was off working with Ruby and it took longer than I expected, okay? But I think we're getting somewhere -"
"Shut the fuck up," Dean warned him. "Not another goddamn word, Sam."
"That's what I'm talking about," Sam said. "Why ask where I was when we both know I can't tell you, and you don't want to know anyway?"
Dean gritted his teeth. It wasn't that he didn't want to know, and Sam knew that damn well: it was that Dean couldn't take the risk of the crossroads demon interpreting it as him trying to weasel out of his deal. He hated that Sam refused to stop looking for a way to break the deal. As far as Dean was concerned, he had two months left, and he'd rather spend those two months with his brother than spend them wondering where Sam was and what the hell he was doing. Watching Sam spend more and more time with Ruby and getting even colder when it came to shooting the supernatural was not Dean's idea of a good time. Maybe he'd never been a fan of talking about his feelings, but he hated the forced silence between him and Sam a hell of a lot more.
Sam sighed and asked again, "Where are you, Dean? Bobby said you left him a note, but it didn't say much."
It hadn't. Dean hadn't been sure when Sam would return, and more importantly, he hadn't known whether Ruby would be with him. Sam insisted that she was helping him, that she was the key to saving Dean and she'd proved she could be trusted to some degree. As far as Dean was concerned, the sooner he got to exorcise the bitch back to hell, the better. He'd yet to meet a demon that wasn't following its own agenda, and the fact that he didn't know what Ruby's was didn't mean she didn't have one. He wasn't dumb enough to leave any details where they could fall into her hands.
"I'm in Cicero," Dean said.
He heard the intake of breath as Sam made the connection. "Ben? Lisa?"
"Ben's missing," Dean said shortly. "I found sulfur in his bedroom."
"I'll borrow a car from Bobby and drive down," Sam said. "Any leads yet?"
"No, but I only just got here," Dean said. "I'm gonna get to work, Sam. Don't be a dumbass and try to drive down if you didn't get any sleep last night, you hear me?"
"It'll probably take Bobby a while to find a car that'll hold together for the drive anyway," Sam said. Dean could hear his smile. "I'll grab a few hours sleep while he does that. Call me as soon as you find out anything."
"Yeah," Dean said, and hung up.
He was glad that Sam was going to join him. He understood his brother's increasing desperation to find a way to save him: he could remember all too clearly how he'd felt last year, the weight of his fears for Sam. But the fact of the matter was that he only had two months left to live. And Dean would rather spend that time with Sam than alone.
Right now, though, he had a kid to find.
The Impala roared out of the driveway.
~*~
He didn't have much time at the library before it closed, but it was long enough to check through some recent issues of the local newspaper and make some photocopies. There hadn't been any reports about other children going missing that he could see. He suspected Lisa would have mentioned it if there had been, but it always paid to make certain.
When the librarian politely but firmly ejected him ten minutes after closing time, Dean dialed Bobby's number.
Bobby answered on the fourth ring. "Found anything?" he asked without preamble.
Dean rubbed his forehead. "Not yet. Sam has the laptop - could you have a look online for me? Double-check for anything weird around here? I'm gonna find a bar or a diner or something, ask around."
"All right," Bobby agreed. "Sam's getting some shut-eye."
"Good," Dean said. "Do me a favor and don't let him head out for a few hours yet. I'll be seriously pissed if he gets himself killed by falling asleep at the wheel."
Bobby chuckled. "I'll give him a few more hours before I wake him. He don't need to know it only took me half an hour to find a car."
Dean laughed. "Thanks, Bobby."
"You be careful," Bobby told him sternly.
"Always am," Dean said flippantly. "Call me if you find anything."
~*~
He drew a blank at the diner he stopped at. They did a mean apple pie, and the waitress was cute and happy to gossip - he had the impression she'd be happy to do far more than that, and maybe he'd try to stop by again once Ben was back where he belonged - but he didn't get much in the way of useful information.
Lisa was looking pale and strained when he arrived back at her house.
"I take it you haven't heard anything," Dean said.
"No," Lisa admitted. "And you..."
Dean shook his head wearily. "Not yet. But I've got friends checking into things. We'll find him, Lisa."
"Yes," Lisa replied weakly, then her tone turned brisk. "You'll stay here tonight, won't you? You drove a long way today, you must be exhausted."
"Sleep when you're dead, that's my motto," Dean said with a sardonic smile. As if on cue, however, he couldn't quite suppress a yawn. "I could sleep here, though, yeah."
"I'll make up the sofa for you," Lisa said, and headed for a closet.
Dean used the time to walk around checking the salt lines. They looked pretty good. He didn't think he and Lisa were in danger of being attacked while they slept, at least.
"Here you go," Lisa said. "If you need anything..."
"Thanks," Dean said, restraining himself to one appreciative but regretful look at her ass as she headed up the stairs. Damn, but it was tough sometimes, being too classy to hit on vulnerable women.
He settled down on the sofa, which turned out to be a hell of a lot more comfortable than some motel beds he'd slept on. Okay, so there was a risk that he'd turn over in the middle of the night and roll right off the edge, but since Sam wouldn't be there to see it and laugh, that was an acceptable risk.
He could feel exhaustion catching up with him now; he'd only got a couple of hours' sleep the previous night before Lisa's phone call. But he hated the thought that Ben was out there somewhere, that demons were mixed up in the equation, and yet he had to waste time sleeping. Time felt too short to waste on that these days.
Just as he was dozing off, his cell phone rang. Dean cursed and grabbed it without bothering to look at the display. "Sam?"
Because really, only his little brother had that kind of timing.
"Hey," Sam said. He sounded more awake than he had earlier. Makes one of us, Dean thought ruefully. "I wake you?"
"Nah," Dean replied semi-truthfully, rubbing his eyes. "What's up?"
"Did you tell Bobby to pick that car out for me?"
Dean paused. "Why, what car did he pick out for you?"
"It's pink," Sam said.
Dean laughed out loud, feeling some of the stress of the past day fall away. "Oh man, much as I wish I could take the credit, that one was all Bobby. Awesome. This I gotta see."
"Yeah, well, you'll get to see late tomorrow, I guess," Sam said. "I'm setting off now. Bobby said to tell you he hasn't come up with anything yet, but he'll keep looking and call you tomorrow morning sometime. You had any luck since you spoke to him earlier?"
"Well, I met a real friendly waitress," Dean said, grinning at the memory.
He could almost hear Sam rolling his eyes, and found himself grinning even more widely at that as he continued, "She filled me in on the local gossip, but no, nothing all that useful. And I'm gonna have to get some sleep before I start looking again."
"We'll find him," Sam promised. "Look, I'm gonna go. I'll see you late tomorrow."
"Enjoy driving your princess-mobile," Dean told him, yawning widely.
"Jerk," Sam said without heat, and hung up as Dean laughed.
~*~
Dean woke early the next morning. Sleeping in wasn't really something he indulged in these days anyway, and particularly not in a situation like this.
He started by looking around Ben's bedroom again, half-hoping to find something that might indicate where the demon had taken the kid or what it wanted. Other than the sulfur, though, and the salt Lisa had strewn across the windowsill and along the outside wall, there didn't appear to be anything out of the norm.
He sifted through the pile of music magazines on the kid's desk, glanced at the books on his shelves. Nothing really jumped out at him.
The door to the room was suddenly flung open, revealing Lisa standing wide-eyed in the doorway. Dean saw her face fall as she caught sight of him.
"Sorry," Dean said, trying really hard not to look at her legs, which her robe didn't entirely cover. "I thought I'd have another look around up here -"
"It's fine," Lisa said quickly, mustering up a weak smile. "I just - it was silly of me to think it could be Ben. I'll just, um, go get dressed."
Dean nodded, feeling slightly guilty, and picked up the nearest thing to hand to concentrate on, which turned out to be Ben's notebooks for school. He flicked through them idly, and paused as something fell out of one and landed on the floor.
He stooped and picked it up. It looked like a torn-off scrap of paper, but when he turned it over, it appeared to be the top half of some kind of survey. He scanned it quickly; it was advertising a youth center due to open soon, with the offer of a free coupon for a local music store for everyone who filled in the survey, so the management could get a better idea of what kind of services to offer.
The bottom half - presumably where the questions had been - was missing.
Dean frowned. He could imagine Ben being the sort of kid who'd jump at the chance of getting something for nothing, particularly if the music store in question was a decent one.
Lisa reappeared in the doorway. "I'm going to make some breakfast, if you'd like something?"
Dean had never been sure exactly what yoga instructors ate, but he had a strong suspicion it would be something he wouldn't class as actual food. "No, it's fine, I'll grab something while I'm out. Lisa, have you seen this?" He passed her the piece of paper.
Lisa read it, frowning. "I haven't seen it before, no. They must just be asking kids."
Dean nodded thoughtfully. "Did you know there was going to be a youth center opening?"
"I haven't heard anything about it, actually," Lisa admitted. "Maybe I just missed it, though."
"Maybe," Dean said. "Okay, I'm gonna go and do some digging. Does Ben have any close friends who live nearby? Friends he walks to school with?"
"There are a couple, yeah," Lisa said. "Tim, he lives a couple of houses away, and Matt in the next street over. You'd probably be best off trying the park, though, if you want to talk to them: most of the kids in the neighborhood will probably be there at this time on a Saturday. You think they might know something?"
"That's what I'm hoping to find out," Dean said, taking the survey back and tucking it into his pocket. "I'll call you later, Lisa."
"Are you sure you don't want something to eat?" Lisa offered again as he headed towards the stairs. "Even a sandwich or something to take with you?"
Dean hesitated for a moment, torn. On the one hand, food. On the other hand, well, yoga-instructor 'food'. "Thanks, but I'm good."
~*~
"Yeah, there was this woman handing them out when we were walking home the day before yesterday," the kid said, passing back the survey. "She had a whole bunch of coupons with her, so most of us filled it in. They were just stupid questions, anyway."
"What kind of questions?" Dean asked.
"Like if you live nearby or whatever," the other kid piped up. "And what kind of games or whatever you want them to have."
"How about your name?" Dean asked. "Did you have to put that down?"
"No, she said it wasn't supposed to have names," the first kid said.
"We just had to sign another sheet to say she'd given us our coupons," the second kid added. "So we couldn't come back later and say she'd forgotten and try to make her give us another one."
Great, Dean thought. "What did the woman look like?"
"Really pale," the first kid said. "Like, really really white."
"Like a vampire," the second kid said.
"It was daylight, vampires only come out at night," the first kid said scornfully.
"She was white like a vampire, though," the other kid said defensively.
"Okay, so she was really pale," Dean summed up. "What else?"
"She had black hair, long," one of the kids said. "She was kind of pretty, only, like, seriously white."
Dean figured that was about as much as he was likely to get. "Okay, thanks, guys. Just one more thing - you hear about this youth center before? She tell you where it's gonna be or anything?"
The boys shook their heads. "She said it would be near where we lived, but she didn't say where," one said.
The library, when Dean returned there, wasn't able to shed any further light on the matter. His suspicions seemed confirmed when, several hours later, even the librarian was unable to find any information about a new youth center.
"If they're still at the research stage, I suppose it's possible there wouldn't be much information on record," she said, looking puzzled. "But it surprises me, I must admit. Especially since we tend to work quite closely with projects like that."
"Well, thank you anyway," Dean said, and stepped outside to call Bobby.
"You think there's a connection between this woman and the kid's disappearance?" Bobby asked when Dean had told him what he'd found out.
"Could be," Dean said. "The youth center story seems pretty weak, no one's heard anything about it. It might've been a way of making contact with the kids, maybe confirming who Ben was."
"I take it you're not going with the vampire idea, though," Bobby said drily.
Dean snorted a laugh. "Not unless they've taken to leaving sulfur behind to throw us off the scent."
"At any rate, if you're right, she specifically went after Ben," Bobby said. "And went to some pains to make sure she got the right kid. Why would a demon want that kid in particular?"
Dean swallowed hard. He'd been thinking about that himself, and he didn't particularly like the conclusion he'd come to. "Because of me."
Silence. He went on before Bobby could say anything. "I've been thinking about it, and I can't come up with another reason, Bobby. Like you say, this demon went after Ben, specifically him. It can't be a coincidence. Somehow the demon knew Lisa would call me."
"You think it's a trap," Bobby said.
"Yeah, I do," Dean agreed.
"In that case, though, this demon must want you to find her," Bobby said slowly. "Wouldn't she have made it a bit more obvious where she's taken the kid?"
"I'm thinking she doesn't want me finding her before she's ready," Dean said grimly. "It won't surprise me if she lets me know the location at that point. The key's going to be figuring out where she is before that."
"What can I do?" Bobby asked.
Dean was silent for a moment, thinking. Then he said, "Can you track down a music store called HemiDemiSemi for me?"
~*~
The door opened with a jangle that Dean could barely hear over the sound of Britney Spears pumping through the store. He shuddered, and for the first time that day he was relieved that Sam wasn't with him. His brother could have a real evil streak when it came to music, and Dean didn't want him getting any ideas.
Once he'd adjusted somewhat to the musical pollution in the air, he stepped further inside and took a good look around. Most of the store was filled with CDs, inevitably, but there was a small vinyl section at the back next to the counter. And despite what the kid there was currently playing, there did look to be a fairly decent selection of classic rock CDs. Dean could imagine Ben buying stuff here, assuming he could brave the staff's questionable musical taste for long enough.
He flipped through the records for a minute, keeping an eye on the kid at the counter, who looked like he was absorbed in a magazine and entirely oblivious to anyone else in the store. But when no weirdly pale woman materialized, he decided to make a move before his ears started to bleed.
The kid couldn't be older than about nineteen, and Dean had to clear his throat twice before he glanced up from his magazine and jumped.
"Jesus, I didn't hear you come up," the kid said, rubbing at his mouth.
"Didn't mean to sneak up on you," Dean said. "The music, you know -"
"What?" the kid half-yelled, barely audible over the sound of Britney Spears begging them to gimme more.
"I said I'm looking for someone!" Dean yelled back.
The kid looked confused. "Dude, you do realize this is a music store?"
Dean leaned across and turned off the CD. There was no way he could have a conversation with someone whose brain was being destroyed by bad music at the same time. He had a duty to protect people, after all.
"Hey!" the kid said indignantly. "You can't do that!"
"I need two minutes of your time, then I'm out of here and you can put it on permanent repeat at full blast for all I care," Dean said. He didn't actually mean to sound threatening, but he guessed his musical outrage was coming across a bit more violently than he intended, judging by the way the kid swallowed and nodded shakily.
"Okay, let's try this again," Dean said. "I'm looking for someone. A woman. Dark hair, kind of pretty, really pale. I mean, real pale. Ring any bells?"
The kid frowned. "You mean Stacey?"
"Stacey, right," Dean said. "You know where I can find her?"
"She quit yesterday," the kid said. "It was kinda sudden - this should've been her shift today, they got me in to cover instead -"
"Tell me, you got a phone number for her? Or her address?" Dean asked.
The kid looked nervous. "I don't think I'm supposed to -"
Dean tilted his head, and the kid swallowed visibly. "She's not in any trouble, is she?"
"I just want to see her, that's all," Dean said soothingly. "So you do have an address?"
~*~
By the time Dean arrived back at Lisa's house, he was fuming. The kid had given him the address, but while the street had been genuine, the house number hadn't been. If he'd thought the kid had lied to him, he'd have gone back to the store and taken him apart, but frankly, Dean didn't credit anyone who liked Britney Spears' music with that much intelligence. More likely, this Stacey chick had given a fake address.
Which was kind of weird in its own right, because if she'd been possessed by a demon, surely the store should have had the girl's real address? Unless she'd already been possessed when she started working there. But then why would she have waited this long to go after Ben?
Dean had the horrible feeling he was overlooking something crucial. It wasn't a feeling he enjoyed when a kid was missing.
Lisa hurried to meet him, but Dean was relieved to see that she remembered to stay behind the salt line, like he'd warned her.
"Did you find anything?" she asked.
"I found a few good leads, but no luck so far," he admitted. "Does the name Stacey ring any bells for you? Dark hair, really pale?"
Lisa shook her head, but he could see her face hardening. "No, she doesn't sound familiar. You think that's the bitch who took my son?"
"I think so," Dean said. "Though who or what she is, I'm not sure yet."
Lisa nodded, biting her lip. "I've called the parents of all of his friends, just to make sure no one's seen him. And to warn them to keep an eye on their own kids, in case - in case there'll be more, like last time."
"Good thinking," Dean agreed. "Though I've got a hunch there won't be more this time."
"What do you -" Lisa began, and cut off suddenly.
Dean turned at the same moment, having heard the same sound. He pulled out his gun and threw the door open.
No one was there, but a folded piece of paper was lying on the doorstep.
Dean stepped forward, keeping his gun steady, and checked up and down the street. He wasn't really expecting to see anyone suspicious - if he was dealing with a demon, they could be long gone by now - but it was worth checking. After a moment, he picked the note up cautiously and stepped back into the house.
"What does it say?" Lisa asked, reaching out for the note.
Dean let her take it and unfold it, standing beside her so he could see too.
In looping handwriting, the note simply gave an address, and beneath that just two words: "Sunset, alone."
Dean restrained himself from cursing, for Lisa's sake. It confirmed his suspicions that this whole set-up was a trap, one aimed at him. That Ben was in danger because of him. There was no other reason for the note, and no other reason for it to have been left immediately after he had arrived back at the house.
"Why would they do this?" Lisa asked. Her voice sounded shaky, but there was an underlying anger there, and Dean really hoped it wasn't about to be directed at him, even if he did deserve it. "You know what they want, don't you? Tell me, Dean!"
"I think they want me," Dean admitted slowly. "I'm sorry, Lisa. I never thought anything like this could happen."
"For god's sake, Dean, you hadn't seen either of us in eight months. There's no reason why you should've expected someone to go after Ben because of you," Lisa told him firmly. "We just - we just need to figure out what we're going to do to get him back."
"That's easy enough," Dean said. "I'm going to go there, and I'm going to get him back."
Lisa stared at him. "Is that safe? I mean, if they're after you -"
"Sure," Dean said, with a bright certainty he was far from feeling. "It'll be fine, you'll have Ben back safe and sound in no time. I just need to make a couple of phone calls, then I'll head over there. Do you know where that address is?"
"Down near the reservoir somewhere," Lisa said. "I'll get the map..." She headed off up the stairs.
Dean took the opportunity to call Bobby and fill him in.
"So you think this Stacey woman is possessed and holding Ben?" Bobby summarized. "You got any idea who she might be?"
Dean shook his head, even knowing Bobby couldn't see him. "If Stacey's possessed, it could be any demon who doesn't like me. Which is all of them."
"So what's your plan?" Bobby asked. "Sam should be there in an hour or two."
Dean sighed. "We can't wait that long, Bobby."
"You'd better not be thinking of going in there by yourself," Bobby said. "You know it's a trap, and it's you she's after!"
"Sure," Dean agreed, lowering his voice in case Lisa overheard. "But I'm not waiting around here for her to decide I'm not coming and take the kid apart."
"You don't know who the h- who you're dealing with here, Dean," Bobby warned him. His voice had the furious tone that Dean had heard more and more over the past year. "You can't just go charging in there without backup."
"Does it really matter, at this stage?" Dean said wearily, suddenly tired of all the pretence. "It's not like I've got much left to lose, Bobby."
"You got plenty left to lose," Bobby told him, his voice hard. "And you'd better get that through that damn-fool head of yours sooner rather than later."
"Two months is all the later I've got," Dean said simply. "I've gotta go Bobby, I need to call Sam and tell him what's happening."
He hung up before Bobby could argue further.
~*~
Sam checked his mirror and took the exit, staying just below the speed limit. He couldn't afford to waste any time. The Colt was a comforting weight at his side as he drove, reassurance that he would be able to help Dean when he got there.
"Damnit, Dean," he hissed under his breath. Even driving all day hadn't reduced his anger, just banked it, ready to blaze up at the first opportunity. He still couldn't believe Dean had just taken off without waiting for him. Admittedly, he'd ended up being away far longer than planned - he'd told Ruby they would have to be back before morning so Dean wouldn't get suspicious, but he'd struggled with what she was showing him and it had been late afternoon before he'd made it back to Bobby's - but still, Dean could have waited. Especially since the reason Sam had been gone was because he was working on a way to save his brother.
Dean had gotten reckless, though, ever since his deal. It had only gotten worse as the months passed. Sam was determined he was going to save him; Dean seemed equally determined not to be saved, and acted accordingly. Sometimes it was like his brother had a goddamn deathwish, and it made Sam so furious that he wanted to punch him.
That was just another of the many things they couldn't talk about these days. Communication had never really been a Winchester strong point, but Dean's apparent conviction that Sam would drop dead the second they talked about anything even vaguely related to breaking that goddamn deal had left them with less and less to say to each other as the year rushed by.
Well, Sam refused to lose him. And once he broke the deal, he was going to punch his brother, then hug him for about an hour, no matter how much Dean protested. And then probably yell at him for another hour, until Dean yelled back and they finally cleared the air of all the issues that had been piling up between them.
His cell phone rang, lying on the seat next to him.
Sam pulled over as quickly as he could without causing an accident and grabbed it. "Dean?"
"Hey, Sam." Dean sounded grim, and Sam took a deep breath.
"Is Ben - did you -"
"He's still alive, far as I know," Dean reassured him swiftly, though his voice didn't lighten. "I don't think they'll kill him, at least not until they get what they want."
"Which is what?" Sam asked, already knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.
"Me," Dean said succinctly. "We found a note with an address."
"Okay, well, I'll be there in an hour or two," Sam said. "We can go check it out as soon as I get there."
Dean was silent, and Sam felt his heart rate pick up. "Dean? Dean - oh no, you'd better not be thinking what I think you are."
"I can't wait that long, Sam," Dean said finally. "The note said to come at sunset, and to come alone. Ben's life is at risk. I can't wait, I can't take that chance."
"But you can throw away your own?" Sam demanded furiously. "You're just going to walk right in there, knowing it's a trap?"
"I'll be careful," Dean said. "But yeah, I'm going in. That's what I was calling to tell you. I'm heading over there in a minute."
"Dean, no," Sam said. "Come on, you can wait an hour for me to get there, they won't kill him if they think there's still a chance you'll go after him, they're bluffing. You can't go in there without someone watching your back!"
Dean sighed. "I can't take that risk, Sam. I'm sorry."
"Dean," Sam said, feeling sick, "Dean, wait, c'mon - Dean -"
"Watch your back, Sammy," Dean said, and the line went dead.
"DEAN!" Sam yelled furiously, and punched the speed dial for his brother's cell phone. It went straight to voicemail: Dean had switched it off.
Sam swore and wrenched the car back onto the road. This time, he ignored the speed limit entirely.
~*~
"I found it on the map," Lisa said, re-entering the living room. "I was right, it's down by the reservoir."
Dean shoved his cell phone into his pocket. God, he always hated hanging up on Sammy, even when he knew it was the only option. He hated having to switch off his phone, too, something he only did in situations like this. He wished this whole thing could have gone down differently.
"Show me," he said, forcing himself to focus as he turned to face Lisa.
Lisa pointed out the building on the map. "There's a couple of abandoned warehouses and stuff down there, I think it's one of them. It's a run-down area of town, most people avoid it after dark."
"Sounds like the place," Dean said. "Okay, I'll call you as soon as I know anything -"
Lisa stared at him. "I'm coming with you."
Dean paused. "It's not a good idea, Lisa."
"That's my son they've got," Lisa said defiantly. "I'm not going to just sit around here hoping for the best!"
Dean winced. "Lisa - look, I respect that, believe me, I do. That's always kind of been how I feel about this job - but this is gonna be dangerous, okay? Demons - they're not something to mess about with. You're brave as hell, and I know you'd do anything to protect your son, but you're not trained for this." He hesitated, then decided to come right out and say it, in the hope that it might deter her from following him. "And even if you were, that note said I was to come alone. So please, Lisa, stay here, okay? Ben needs you, but he needs you to stay safe, you get me?"
Lisa looked like she was close to tears again now, and Dean was sorry about that, but he believed what he was saying. Hunting was no business for amateurs, no matter how well-motivated.
After a moment, Lisa nodded. "You call me the moment you have him," she said, her voice all the more deadly for the way it shook. "You call me."
"I promise," Dean said.
~*~
He left the Impala a street away from the address he'd been given, and waited only long enough to grab extra holy water and ammo from the trunk.
He wasn't planning on just walking up to the front door and knocking; there was a difference between accepting he was taking a dangerous risk that might well get him killed and actually being suicidally stupid, even if Sam tended to assume he fell into the latter category. Instead he checked out the building from a distance, keeping out of sight and working his way round to identify all the exits and see if there was any sign of Ben or the demon chick.
Lisa had been right that the building was an abandoned warehouse. Most of the street seemed to be made up of derelict buildings, with boarded-up windows or shattered panes of glass. There was no sign that anyone was there at all.
The sun was creeping lower along the horizon.
"Here goes nothing," Dean muttered, and headed for the half-hidden side-entrance he'd identified as his best option.
He stuck to the shadows and moved from one piece of cover to another as quickly as he could, keeping his gun lowered but in his hand. The door itself delayed him for a moment while he picked the padlock, but a few seconds later he was inside, pulling the door shut behind him.
It was dark inside, and he paused for a second to let his eyes adjust. He was in a narrow hallway with a door at one end and a flight of stairs leading upwards at the other. He headed towards the door and flattened himself against the wall, listening for any sound. When he couldn't hear anything, he shifted so he could peer around the corner through the door.
The room through the doorway was huge and dark. From what he could make out, Dean figured that it was the warehouse proper. There were still rotting boxes and crumbling crates stacked on the floor in huge piles, making it impossible to see for certain whether anyone was in there.
Someone pressed up against him, near enough for him to feel the swell of her breasts against his back, and closed a hand around the wrist holding his gun.
"Ssh, Dean. Why don't you give me that," she murmured, barely above a whisper.
Dean allowed her to take the weapon, his mind working furiously. He still remembered that voice, despite the months that had passed.
"Casey."
"Surprise," she said, stepping back. He could hear the smile in her voice. "Okay, you can turn around now. But keep your voice down."
Dean turned, and couldn't help but recoil at the sight of her. She was still as beautiful as she had been when he'd met her in that bar, as she had been when she'd stretched out in the circle and laughed at him - as she hadn't been with her blood staining the floor after Sam shot her with the Colt. But now he understood why the kids had all mentioned how pale she was. Deathly pale.
"Casey's a cooler name than Stacey," was all he said.
She gave him a hard-edged smile. "I agree. But we didn't want you to realize who you were dealing with too soon."
"We? Oh, great, your boyfriend's around here too?" Dean asked.
"Of course," Casey said. "We come as a pair, just like you and Sam." She glanced around meaningfully. "Well. I guess that's not quite true these days, is it?"
"So how did you manage to come back?" Dean asked, ignoring that entirely. "Because the last time I saw you, you were pretty damn dead. And okay, you're looking... not exactly a picture of health right now, I'll admit -"
Casey arched an eyebrow. "And whose fault is that?"
"I'm just surprised you didn't pick yourself out a new body when you came back," Dean said. "One a bit less... dead. Or whatever."
"Are you saying you don't like this body any more, Dean?" Casey asked, running the hand not holding his gun provocatively down her side. "I didn't have much choice in the matter, let's leave it at that. You'll hurt my feelings at this rate, you know. And here I thought I was being nice to you."
"Somehow I don't class kidnapping Ben as 'nice'", Dean said. "Where is he? I'm here now, you've got what you want, so you can let him go."
"He's not been hurt," Casey said. "I made sure of that. You should be thanking me, really. My 'boyfriend', as you refer to him, had rather different plans." She lowered her voice further, almost confidingly. "He's still holding a bit of a grudge about what happened. You weren't exactly his favorite human to begin with, and after that..."
"So that's what this is about? Payback for what happened in Elizabethville?" Dean asked. "What, you were too scared to go after us, you had to use a little kid as bait?"
Casey laughed softly. "Let's just say we had our reasons. Look, Dean, I'll give it to you straight. He wants you dead. Well, his real issue is with your brother, but he'll settle for killing you for now. Preferably slowly and painfully. As for me... I like you, you know. I did notice you told Sam not to shoot me. Pity he never bothers to listen to you, but still. That counts for a lot in my book. So I'm going to do you a favor, Dean."
Dean raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah?"
Casey stepped closer, right into his space. Dean forced himself to hold his ground, and she leaned in to murmur into his ear, her breath washing over his neck. "I'm going to let you go."
She pulled back far enough to meet his eyes. Dean wasn't sure his expression was like, but it made her laugh softly.
"I'm not leaving without Ben," Dean said bluntly.
"I didn't suggest you should," Casey said, sounding amused. "He's in one of the offices upstairs, you can take him with you." She turned and started walking towards the stairs.
Dean hesitated for a moment, then followed her. He didn't seem to have many other options.
"Why?" he asked as they made their way up the stairs. "Assuming I even believe you, why would you go to all this trouble and then just let us go?"
"I wasn't lying when I said I liked you," Casey said quietly. "Keep your voice down. I couldn't talk him out of this plan, so I went along with it. But I don't think it's... in our best interests, shall we say. And besides, I've never liked being a pawn."
Dean's eyes narrowed. "A pawn for who?"
Casey threw a sardonic glance over her shoulder. "I'm not suicidal, Dean, believe it or not. This way. And I mean it, keep it down - if he catches us, you're dead."
"That's what they all say," Dean muttered. Then louder - but not as loud as before - he asked, "What's to stop me from getting the kid out of here and then coming back in and sending you both back to hell?"
"You mean other than the fact that we'll kill you if you try?" Casey said. "My goodwill extends to giving you a chance, Dean. But that's it. If you come back in, the best I can do for you is try to make it quick."
Dean didn't reply. If he left the two demons at large, they would still be a threat to Ben and Lisa. Not to mention Sam - he really didn't like those hints about Sam being the real target, or someone else being involved. Sure, Casey might be willing to let him go - though he'd believe it when it happened - but did that mean he could just turn his back and let her go?
Demons always have their own agenda, he thought. Question is, what's hers?
"Here," Casey said, opening a door.
Ben was sitting on a chair, ropes wound around him, kicking his heels against the chair legs. He looked up and brightened instantly when he saw Dean standing behind Casey. "Dean!"
"Hey, kiddo," Dean said, crossing to him and pulling out a knife to cut away the ropes. "How're you doing? You hurt?"
"No, just bored out of my skull. And I'm hungry," Ben complained.
"Yeah? How about we get out of here and find you something to eat?" Dean suggested.
"Keep it down, or no one will be going anywhere," Casey warned them, glancing down the corridor worriedly.
"C'mon, Ben," Dean said, helping him up. "Let's go."
Casey led the way down the stairs, looking nervously in the direction of the door the to warehouse proper, and opened the side door Dean had entered through.
"Go, and be quick," she whispered.
Dean shot a swift glance outside to check the coast was clear, then urged Ben out. "Thanks, Casey," he said quietly, turning back to her.
She shoved his gun at him. "Just go."
He took the gun and stepped outside. The door closed behind him before he could say anything else.
"Okay, Ben," Dean whispered. "We're gonna run across to the other side of the alley, fast as you can, okay? Don't stop till you reach those packing cases over there. Got it?"
"Got it," Ben said.
"Now," Dean said, and they ran, Dean slower than usual so Ben could keep up.
Even as they moved, Dean's mind was working furiously. Leave with Ben or go back in? Trust Casey to keep her lover from going after Ben again, or exorcise them both back to hell? Go back and wait for Sam or take the risk alone?
The smart thing to do would be to give Ben his cell phone and send him back to the Impala, then go back in and try to take the demons out. Much as he appreciated Casey's assistance, she was a demon, and he didn't trust her, not an inch. Maybe she hadn't killed Ben - this time - but she had killed Richie and who knew how many others, and there was no way he could justify leaving her or her lover free to kill again. Besides, what did he have to lose? Better for him to take the risk alone than for Sam to go in there with him, especially since Sam was the one who'd shot both the demons back in Elizabethville, and was probably their real target.
And yet.
He wanted to see Sam again, wanted to laugh at the sight of whatever pink monstrosity Bobby had picked out for him. He wanted Sam to yell at him for hanging up on him and then call him a jerk and clap him on the shoulder. He wanted to see Ben back with his mother.
It was such a fucking stupid thing to realize now, when he only had two months left, but there it was: he wanted to live.
"Which way, Dean?" Ben asked as they ducked behind the packing cases.
Dean took a deep breath. "This way, c'mon."
They stayed in the shadows but ran up the alley as fast as Ben could manage, Dean casting wary glances over his shoulder. There was no sign yet of anyone emerging from the warehouse.
When he looked back, there was a figure standing in the middle of the alleyway, just a few feet in front of them.
Ben gasped. "Him!"
Dean didn't need the confirmation: he recognized him immediately as the priest they'd called Father Gil before they'd realized he was possessed. He looked much the same, minus the priest outfit, and was just as horribly pale as Casey.
He was smiling.
Dean was already aiming his weapon at his chest, though he knew it was unlikely to cause much damage.
"Ben," he said quietly, "I want you to run past him, and keep running until you get to my car, okay? You run and you don't stop and you don't look back. Got it?"
"Got it," Ben said. His voice was scared in a way it hadn't been before, but Dean couldn't spare a glance down to make sure he was okay: he didn't dare take his eyes off the demon.
"Okay, go now, Ben, go!" Dean ordered.
Ben took off, head down and running flat-out. Dean kept his eyes on the demon, a silent promise of what he'd do if it did anything to the kid.
Father Gil's head turned as Ben passed, following him, as if he was considering reaching out to him.
The sound of Dean cocking the hammer was very loud in the narrow alleyway.
Father Gil slowly looked back to him, black eyes glinting. "Do you honestly think shooting me will help you this time?"
~*~
Sam pulled up in front of Lisa's house, and barely bothered to put the car into park before he was out and running up to her door.
"Lisa!" he yelled, pounding on it. "Lisa, answer the door! Lisa!"
The door opened a crack and Lisa's frightened face appeared. Looking down, Sam caught sight of the salt line, and knew at once that she wasn't stupid enough to come out to him.
"Lisa, I'm Sam Winchester, Dean's brother, maybe you remember me. I know he's gone to find Ben, and I need to go help him, I need you to tell me where he is."
Lisa was shaking her head nervously. "He said not to cross the line, that -"
"I know what he told you," Sam said as fast as he could. He knew he ought to be gentler with her, that she had to be half out of her mind with worry, but Dean's life was in danger and he just didn't have time for this. "Step back - I'll cross the line, okay? A demon can't do that, that's why Dean got you to lay the salt line, so if I can cross it, you'll know I'm not a demon, I'm the real thing, okay? Lisa, step back."
Lisa looked uncertain, but she took one wavering step back, and Sam stepped into the house, crossing the salt line.
"See? Lisa, I need you to tell me where Dean is, he's in danger and I need to get to him. Please, Lisa."
Lisa hesitated for a moment, then nodded suddenly, firmly, as if she'd come to a decision she'd been struggling with for a while. "I'll take you there. Let's go."
Under other circumstances, Sam would have argued, told her it was too dangerous, begged her to stay in her house. Instead, he turned and ran for the car.
"Down by the reservoir," Lisa instructed, sliding in beside him. "Head left at the end of this road."
Sam drove faster than he would ever normally have dared. Good luck to any police officer who tried to stop him now. But it was dark by now, and the streets were quiet.
"Okay, a right at the end of this street," Lisa said eventually. "And it should be at the end of an alley down there, an abandoned warehouse -" She cut off as Sam made the turn. "That's Dean's car!"
"Yeah," Sam said tersely, pulling his car to a screeching halt next to it, abandoning it in the middle of the street. He was out and heading for the entrance to the alleyway without even bothering to switch off the engine.
"Mom!"
Sam paused and swung round in time to see Ben leap out from where he must have been hiding on the other side of the Impala and run to his mother.
"Ben!" Lisa cried, dropping to her knees to wrap her arms around him. "Oh, thank god -"
There was no sign that Dean was with him, though. Sam turned away again and ran towards the alley.
~*~
"I figure it might be worth a try," Dean said with a hard-edged grin. "Can't hurt, can it? Well, not me, anyway."
"I wouldn't count on that, Dean," Casey's familiar voice said in his ear. She was suddenly pressed against his back again - only this time she had a knife pressed to his throat.
Dean tried not to swallow, and let her take his gun away from him.
"Thank you," Father Gil said, a warmer note creeping into his voice for the first time. "Now then. Why don't we take this back inside? Then we can take our time about this."
"Tempting as that sounds," Dean said, keeping his voice bored, "I'm afraid you'll have to count me out. Prior engagement and all that."
"Yes, so I've heard," Casey said. He felt the angle of her head shift as she addressed her lover. "I was contacted. Sam's on his way, he'll be here any minute. We need to cut this short."
"How... disappointing," Father Gil said, and raised one hand, clenching it into a fist.
Dean didn't even have time to figure out what he was doing before the pain hit him.
It was agony, agony of a kind he'd experienced only once before, when the yellow-eyed demon had pinned him to the wall of a dark cabin and torn his insides apart. For a moment, it felt as if he were back there, hatred shining in his father's yellow eyes, before the world came back into focus. He was slumped back against Casey, who had one arm around his waist now, holding him upright with inhuman ease. His throat felt raw, but he had no idea whether he'd been screaming or not.
He choked on his own blood and weakly spat a mouthful onto the ground beside him.
"Let's go," Casey urged her lover. "We need to get out of here before Sam arrives."
Dean tried dizzily to focus. "Sam..."
"We've still got another minute or two," Father Gil said, and raised his hand again.
Dean was pretty sure he was screaming this time. He could feel muscle shredding and bone breaking, breath ever harder to catch as the agony ripped through him.
When Father Gil lowered his hand, it didn't stop. The damage was there, whether he was causing more or not, and Dean coughed weakly, the sick, rich taste of warm blood in his mouth.
Casey lowered him to the ground. Dean almost wished she'd just dropped him; perhaps then he'd have passed out. The expression in her eyes was almost sympathetic, and Dean couldn't stand it.
"I think we can go now," Father Gil said, his voice laced with satisfaction.
"Yes," Casey agreed softly. She leaned down and murmured, "Sorry, Dean. I did try. And this is quicker than he was planning, believe me."
Her fingers were cold against his face for a moment, then they were gone, and so was she.
Dean fought for air that couldn't seem to reach his lungs, choking horribly on his blood and finding himself unable to turn his head enough to spit it out. The world was starting to darken around him.
"Dean! Dean!"
For a moment, Dean genuinely thought it was a hallucination. Then he was selfishly glad that it wasn't. He'd never wanted Sam to see this, but god, it was good to see him. Even though Sam was crying, salt falling onto Dean's face, about the only thing he could feel beyond the pain.
"No no no," Sam was saying. There was a flash of agony as Sam touched his chest, as if looking for a wound he could put pressure on, Dean thought dazedly, but there wasn't one. Dean tried to open his mouth, to say something, anything, but found himself wheezing instead, fighting for breath.
"Oh Jesus, Dean, breathe," Sam ordered, then he was sealing his lips across Dean's.
Dean could feel Sam forcing air into his mouth, but it still didn't seem to be reaching his burning lungs. Even the sensation of Sam's lips against his own was growing dimmer now, fading into grey.
"Don't you dare leave me," he heard Sam tell him. "Damnit, Dean, stay with me! Dean!"
Sam, Dean tried to say, trying to obey, but there was nothing left, only...
Darkness.
~*~
"DEAN!" Sam yelled again, begging now, almost choking on his own tears and fury and desperation.
They were supposed to have another two months. He was supposed to have another two months with his brother, and he was supposed to save him so they could spend the rest of their lives together, and how the hell could Dean be dying right in front of him?
He pressed his lips to Dean's again, frantically trying to force air into his brother's lungs, refusing to give up, despite the taste of Dean's blood warm in his mouth. Refusing to give up, even now that Dean had gone still and the sound of his choking had stopped.
"Dean," he said again, against his brother's mouth, more a sob than anything else. "Dean!"
He was crying helplessly now, hands clutching Dean's face and smoothing back his hair, his mouth pressing to Dean's again, not so much mouth-to-mouth this time as simply seeking a connection, seeking anything, any last sign of life. Almost a kiss, the first time he'd kissed his brother since he was eight, Dean's blood warm in his mouth and on his lips.
"Don't leave me," Sam whispered again against his brother's lips, but when he pulled back, Dean was still staring sightlessly up at the dark sky.
He didn't know how long he sat there, tasting tears and his brother's blood. For the first time in ten months, the clock had stopped ticking.
~*~
"...The hell?" Dean said.
Sam didn't reply. Dean couldn't exactly blame him: he clearly had other things on his mind. Like the fact that he was currently crying over Dean's bloody corpse.
...Yeah, Dean didn't really know what to do with that either.
"Seriously," Dean said weakly, tearing his eyes away from Sam and... himself... and staring around wildly, disbelievingly, almost expecting someone to appear and tell him what the hell was going on. "Seriously, the hell?"
Chapter Two
Title: Somewhere a Clock is Ticking (Part 1 of 9)
Rating: R
Pairing: Eventual Sam/Dean
Disclaimer: Still not mine, sadly.
Wordcount: Approx. 70k for the fic as a whole.
Betas: So, so much love to zooey_glass04 and aynslee, beta readers and Ameripickers extraordinaire, for all their awesomeness. Thank you, darlings! <333 Zooey also single-handedly saved my sanity by writing the summary. Greater love hath no friend...
Notes: This is the fic I wrote during Nano 2007; I had only seen up to episode 3.04 (Sin City) at the time. This is therefore set post-3.04 and contains spoilers only up to that point; of course, it has now been completely overtaken by canon and is officially AU. Oh well. The fic is complete, and will be posted chapter by chapter as I sort out my life. Title is of course from the Snow Patrol song of the same name.
Summary: When Ben goes missing, Dean has to help, even if it means going in without Sam. By the time he stops to consider the consequences, it's already too late, and Sam's skating dangerously close to the edge in his determination to fix things.
It was such a fucking stupid thing to realize now, when he only had two months left, but there it was: he wanted to live.
Chapter One
The phone call came in the middle of the night.
"They've taken Ben," Lisa said, her voice wavering. "I didn't know who else to..."
It had been over eight months since he'd seen the kid, eight months since Lisa had told him he wasn't the father. But that didn't change a goddamn thing.
"Tell me everything you know," Dean said.
~*~
He drove through the night and reached Cicero in the early evening. Lisa's neighborhood was much as he remembered it: picket fences and happy families, shady trees and perfectly mowed lawns. There was something unnatural about it.
The front door of Lisa's house opened before he even had a chance to knock, and Lisa flung her arms around him. "Oh god, I'm sorry to make you come all this way, but after the - the changeling and everything, I didn't know who else to call. I don't -"
"It's okay, I'm glad you called," Dean told her, squeezing her arm. "Can I take a look at his room?"
"Of course," Lisa said, pulling back and brushing subtly at her eyes. "Come on in."
Ben's room was something else. Dean couldn't help a quiet, admiring whistle at the sight of the AC/DC and Metallica posters on the walls. Damn, but the kid had taste. Dean had almost never stayed anywhere long enough growing up for posters to be an option, and he'd never really thought twice about it at the time. Posters like that, though - that would have been pretty cool.
He headed across to the window, opening it far enough to lean out and check out the wall. No red stains this time, not that he'd really been expecting any. Even changelings could probably learn from their mistakes. Besides, the very fact that Ben was missing, not 'acting oddly', implied this was something different.
"Tell me again what happened," Dean said, closing the window and looking around the room.
"Ben went to bed just like normal," Lisa said helplessly. "Well, he put up as much resistance as usual, but eventually he went and I tucked him in. I read for a few hours, then went to bed myself - I looked in on him on the way past, he was sound asleep."
Dean crossed to the bed while she talked, checking the bedside table, the chest of drawers against the wall, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
"I woke up about... oh, it was almost 2 am. I don't know what woke me, I don't remember hearing anything, but something felt... wrong. And when I got up to check, Ben wasn't in his room." Lisa's voice wavered, but she wasn't crying. Dean felt guiltily grateful: Lisa was entitled, but he was totally out of his depth around crying women.
"And there's no chance he might've left on his own?" he asked. "I'm not saying it's likely, but..."
"No chance," Lisa said firmly. "His window was closed, and I would have heard if he'd gone downstairs. And he wouldn't take off, anyway. He's only eight, and it's - it's just the two of us, you know? He wouldn't go off somewhere without telling me, especially after what happened before."
Dean shifted a stack of CDs and paused, staring. "No. No, I don't think he did."
"What is it?" Lisa asked at once, crossing the room to look for herself.
Dean took a deep breath. Damn, this wasn't good. "It's sulfur."
"Sulfur?" Lisa said. "What - what does that mean?"
Dean looked at her, judging her ability to cope with the truth. She was pale, but rigid with determination, and he knew he couldn't lie to her, not about this. "It means a demon's been here."
Lisa turned several shades paler. "A - oh god. Oh god, Ben..."
"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Dean said. "I'm gonna drive around, ask people some questions, see if I can come up with anything. You're gonna make this house safe for you to stay in tonight, okay? You get salt, lots of it, go to the store if you have to, and you make a salt line in front of all the doors, along every windowsill - hell, play it safe, along all the walls, too. Okay?"
She nodded shakily. "Okay. You'll let me know as soon as you find anything out?"
"I'll call you in an hour or two to check in," Dean promised. "We're gonna find him, Lisa."
Lisa's smile was strained, but real. "You already did once, Dean. I trust you to do it again."
~*~
Dean had barely made it back to the Impala when his cell phone rang.
About time, he thought, and answered it, false cheeriness in his voice. "Hey, Sammy."
"Dean, where the hell are you?" Sam demanded.
Dean felt his lips curl faintly in amusement. Sam had to be really pissed off if he was using the word 'hell' around Dean, a word he'd started stuttering over and avoiding several months previously. If Dean had thought for a minute that it was his feelings Sam was trying to spare, he would probably have punched his brother in the face.
He guessed it was fair enough that Sam was angry right now, since he was far from a happy camper himself.
"Where the hell am I? Where the hell were you, Sam? I wake up in the middle of the night and you're fucking gone!"
Sam heaved a frustrated sigh. "You know I can't tell you, Dean. Look, I was off working with Ruby and it took longer than I expected, okay? But I think we're getting somewhere -"
"Shut the fuck up," Dean warned him. "Not another goddamn word, Sam."
"That's what I'm talking about," Sam said. "Why ask where I was when we both know I can't tell you, and you don't want to know anyway?"
Dean gritted his teeth. It wasn't that he didn't want to know, and Sam knew that damn well: it was that Dean couldn't take the risk of the crossroads demon interpreting it as him trying to weasel out of his deal. He hated that Sam refused to stop looking for a way to break the deal. As far as Dean was concerned, he had two months left, and he'd rather spend those two months with his brother than spend them wondering where Sam was and what the hell he was doing. Watching Sam spend more and more time with Ruby and getting even colder when it came to shooting the supernatural was not Dean's idea of a good time. Maybe he'd never been a fan of talking about his feelings, but he hated the forced silence between him and Sam a hell of a lot more.
Sam sighed and asked again, "Where are you, Dean? Bobby said you left him a note, but it didn't say much."
It hadn't. Dean hadn't been sure when Sam would return, and more importantly, he hadn't known whether Ruby would be with him. Sam insisted that she was helping him, that she was the key to saving Dean and she'd proved she could be trusted to some degree. As far as Dean was concerned, the sooner he got to exorcise the bitch back to hell, the better. He'd yet to meet a demon that wasn't following its own agenda, and the fact that he didn't know what Ruby's was didn't mean she didn't have one. He wasn't dumb enough to leave any details where they could fall into her hands.
"I'm in Cicero," Dean said.
He heard the intake of breath as Sam made the connection. "Ben? Lisa?"
"Ben's missing," Dean said shortly. "I found sulfur in his bedroom."
"I'll borrow a car from Bobby and drive down," Sam said. "Any leads yet?"
"No, but I only just got here," Dean said. "I'm gonna get to work, Sam. Don't be a dumbass and try to drive down if you didn't get any sleep last night, you hear me?"
"It'll probably take Bobby a while to find a car that'll hold together for the drive anyway," Sam said. Dean could hear his smile. "I'll grab a few hours sleep while he does that. Call me as soon as you find out anything."
"Yeah," Dean said, and hung up.
He was glad that Sam was going to join him. He understood his brother's increasing desperation to find a way to save him: he could remember all too clearly how he'd felt last year, the weight of his fears for Sam. But the fact of the matter was that he only had two months left to live. And Dean would rather spend that time with Sam than alone.
Right now, though, he had a kid to find.
The Impala roared out of the driveway.
~*~
He didn't have much time at the library before it closed, but it was long enough to check through some recent issues of the local newspaper and make some photocopies. There hadn't been any reports about other children going missing that he could see. He suspected Lisa would have mentioned it if there had been, but it always paid to make certain.
When the librarian politely but firmly ejected him ten minutes after closing time, Dean dialed Bobby's number.
Bobby answered on the fourth ring. "Found anything?" he asked without preamble.
Dean rubbed his forehead. "Not yet. Sam has the laptop - could you have a look online for me? Double-check for anything weird around here? I'm gonna find a bar or a diner or something, ask around."
"All right," Bobby agreed. "Sam's getting some shut-eye."
"Good," Dean said. "Do me a favor and don't let him head out for a few hours yet. I'll be seriously pissed if he gets himself killed by falling asleep at the wheel."
Bobby chuckled. "I'll give him a few more hours before I wake him. He don't need to know it only took me half an hour to find a car."
Dean laughed. "Thanks, Bobby."
"You be careful," Bobby told him sternly.
"Always am," Dean said flippantly. "Call me if you find anything."
~*~
He drew a blank at the diner he stopped at. They did a mean apple pie, and the waitress was cute and happy to gossip - he had the impression she'd be happy to do far more than that, and maybe he'd try to stop by again once Ben was back where he belonged - but he didn't get much in the way of useful information.
Lisa was looking pale and strained when he arrived back at her house.
"I take it you haven't heard anything," Dean said.
"No," Lisa admitted. "And you..."
Dean shook his head wearily. "Not yet. But I've got friends checking into things. We'll find him, Lisa."
"Yes," Lisa replied weakly, then her tone turned brisk. "You'll stay here tonight, won't you? You drove a long way today, you must be exhausted."
"Sleep when you're dead, that's my motto," Dean said with a sardonic smile. As if on cue, however, he couldn't quite suppress a yawn. "I could sleep here, though, yeah."
"I'll make up the sofa for you," Lisa said, and headed for a closet.
Dean used the time to walk around checking the salt lines. They looked pretty good. He didn't think he and Lisa were in danger of being attacked while they slept, at least.
"Here you go," Lisa said. "If you need anything..."
"Thanks," Dean said, restraining himself to one appreciative but regretful look at her ass as she headed up the stairs. Damn, but it was tough sometimes, being too classy to hit on vulnerable women.
He settled down on the sofa, which turned out to be a hell of a lot more comfortable than some motel beds he'd slept on. Okay, so there was a risk that he'd turn over in the middle of the night and roll right off the edge, but since Sam wouldn't be there to see it and laugh, that was an acceptable risk.
He could feel exhaustion catching up with him now; he'd only got a couple of hours' sleep the previous night before Lisa's phone call. But he hated the thought that Ben was out there somewhere, that demons were mixed up in the equation, and yet he had to waste time sleeping. Time felt too short to waste on that these days.
Just as he was dozing off, his cell phone rang. Dean cursed and grabbed it without bothering to look at the display. "Sam?"
Because really, only his little brother had that kind of timing.
"Hey," Sam said. He sounded more awake than he had earlier. Makes one of us, Dean thought ruefully. "I wake you?"
"Nah," Dean replied semi-truthfully, rubbing his eyes. "What's up?"
"Did you tell Bobby to pick that car out for me?"
Dean paused. "Why, what car did he pick out for you?"
"It's pink," Sam said.
Dean laughed out loud, feeling some of the stress of the past day fall away. "Oh man, much as I wish I could take the credit, that one was all Bobby. Awesome. This I gotta see."
"Yeah, well, you'll get to see late tomorrow, I guess," Sam said. "I'm setting off now. Bobby said to tell you he hasn't come up with anything yet, but he'll keep looking and call you tomorrow morning sometime. You had any luck since you spoke to him earlier?"
"Well, I met a real friendly waitress," Dean said, grinning at the memory.
He could almost hear Sam rolling his eyes, and found himself grinning even more widely at that as he continued, "She filled me in on the local gossip, but no, nothing all that useful. And I'm gonna have to get some sleep before I start looking again."
"We'll find him," Sam promised. "Look, I'm gonna go. I'll see you late tomorrow."
"Enjoy driving your princess-mobile," Dean told him, yawning widely.
"Jerk," Sam said without heat, and hung up as Dean laughed.
~*~
Dean woke early the next morning. Sleeping in wasn't really something he indulged in these days anyway, and particularly not in a situation like this.
He started by looking around Ben's bedroom again, half-hoping to find something that might indicate where the demon had taken the kid or what it wanted. Other than the sulfur, though, and the salt Lisa had strewn across the windowsill and along the outside wall, there didn't appear to be anything out of the norm.
He sifted through the pile of music magazines on the kid's desk, glanced at the books on his shelves. Nothing really jumped out at him.
The door to the room was suddenly flung open, revealing Lisa standing wide-eyed in the doorway. Dean saw her face fall as she caught sight of him.
"Sorry," Dean said, trying really hard not to look at her legs, which her robe didn't entirely cover. "I thought I'd have another look around up here -"
"It's fine," Lisa said quickly, mustering up a weak smile. "I just - it was silly of me to think it could be Ben. I'll just, um, go get dressed."
Dean nodded, feeling slightly guilty, and picked up the nearest thing to hand to concentrate on, which turned out to be Ben's notebooks for school. He flicked through them idly, and paused as something fell out of one and landed on the floor.
He stooped and picked it up. It looked like a torn-off scrap of paper, but when he turned it over, it appeared to be the top half of some kind of survey. He scanned it quickly; it was advertising a youth center due to open soon, with the offer of a free coupon for a local music store for everyone who filled in the survey, so the management could get a better idea of what kind of services to offer.
The bottom half - presumably where the questions had been - was missing.
Dean frowned. He could imagine Ben being the sort of kid who'd jump at the chance of getting something for nothing, particularly if the music store in question was a decent one.
Lisa reappeared in the doorway. "I'm going to make some breakfast, if you'd like something?"
Dean had never been sure exactly what yoga instructors ate, but he had a strong suspicion it would be something he wouldn't class as actual food. "No, it's fine, I'll grab something while I'm out. Lisa, have you seen this?" He passed her the piece of paper.
Lisa read it, frowning. "I haven't seen it before, no. They must just be asking kids."
Dean nodded thoughtfully. "Did you know there was going to be a youth center opening?"
"I haven't heard anything about it, actually," Lisa admitted. "Maybe I just missed it, though."
"Maybe," Dean said. "Okay, I'm gonna go and do some digging. Does Ben have any close friends who live nearby? Friends he walks to school with?"
"There are a couple, yeah," Lisa said. "Tim, he lives a couple of houses away, and Matt in the next street over. You'd probably be best off trying the park, though, if you want to talk to them: most of the kids in the neighborhood will probably be there at this time on a Saturday. You think they might know something?"
"That's what I'm hoping to find out," Dean said, taking the survey back and tucking it into his pocket. "I'll call you later, Lisa."
"Are you sure you don't want something to eat?" Lisa offered again as he headed towards the stairs. "Even a sandwich or something to take with you?"
Dean hesitated for a moment, torn. On the one hand, food. On the other hand, well, yoga-instructor 'food'. "Thanks, but I'm good."
~*~
"Yeah, there was this woman handing them out when we were walking home the day before yesterday," the kid said, passing back the survey. "She had a whole bunch of coupons with her, so most of us filled it in. They were just stupid questions, anyway."
"What kind of questions?" Dean asked.
"Like if you live nearby or whatever," the other kid piped up. "And what kind of games or whatever you want them to have."
"How about your name?" Dean asked. "Did you have to put that down?"
"No, she said it wasn't supposed to have names," the first kid said.
"We just had to sign another sheet to say she'd given us our coupons," the second kid added. "So we couldn't come back later and say she'd forgotten and try to make her give us another one."
Great, Dean thought. "What did the woman look like?"
"Really pale," the first kid said. "Like, really really white."
"Like a vampire," the second kid said.
"It was daylight, vampires only come out at night," the first kid said scornfully.
"She was white like a vampire, though," the other kid said defensively.
"Okay, so she was really pale," Dean summed up. "What else?"
"She had black hair, long," one of the kids said. "She was kind of pretty, only, like, seriously white."
Dean figured that was about as much as he was likely to get. "Okay, thanks, guys. Just one more thing - you hear about this youth center before? She tell you where it's gonna be or anything?"
The boys shook their heads. "She said it would be near where we lived, but she didn't say where," one said.
The library, when Dean returned there, wasn't able to shed any further light on the matter. His suspicions seemed confirmed when, several hours later, even the librarian was unable to find any information about a new youth center.
"If they're still at the research stage, I suppose it's possible there wouldn't be much information on record," she said, looking puzzled. "But it surprises me, I must admit. Especially since we tend to work quite closely with projects like that."
"Well, thank you anyway," Dean said, and stepped outside to call Bobby.
"You think there's a connection between this woman and the kid's disappearance?" Bobby asked when Dean had told him what he'd found out.
"Could be," Dean said. "The youth center story seems pretty weak, no one's heard anything about it. It might've been a way of making contact with the kids, maybe confirming who Ben was."
"I take it you're not going with the vampire idea, though," Bobby said drily.
Dean snorted a laugh. "Not unless they've taken to leaving sulfur behind to throw us off the scent."
"At any rate, if you're right, she specifically went after Ben," Bobby said. "And went to some pains to make sure she got the right kid. Why would a demon want that kid in particular?"
Dean swallowed hard. He'd been thinking about that himself, and he didn't particularly like the conclusion he'd come to. "Because of me."
Silence. He went on before Bobby could say anything. "I've been thinking about it, and I can't come up with another reason, Bobby. Like you say, this demon went after Ben, specifically him. It can't be a coincidence. Somehow the demon knew Lisa would call me."
"You think it's a trap," Bobby said.
"Yeah, I do," Dean agreed.
"In that case, though, this demon must want you to find her," Bobby said slowly. "Wouldn't she have made it a bit more obvious where she's taken the kid?"
"I'm thinking she doesn't want me finding her before she's ready," Dean said grimly. "It won't surprise me if she lets me know the location at that point. The key's going to be figuring out where she is before that."
"What can I do?" Bobby asked.
Dean was silent for a moment, thinking. Then he said, "Can you track down a music store called HemiDemiSemi for me?"
~*~
The door opened with a jangle that Dean could barely hear over the sound of Britney Spears pumping through the store. He shuddered, and for the first time that day he was relieved that Sam wasn't with him. His brother could have a real evil streak when it came to music, and Dean didn't want him getting any ideas.
Once he'd adjusted somewhat to the musical pollution in the air, he stepped further inside and took a good look around. Most of the store was filled with CDs, inevitably, but there was a small vinyl section at the back next to the counter. And despite what the kid there was currently playing, there did look to be a fairly decent selection of classic rock CDs. Dean could imagine Ben buying stuff here, assuming he could brave the staff's questionable musical taste for long enough.
He flipped through the records for a minute, keeping an eye on the kid at the counter, who looked like he was absorbed in a magazine and entirely oblivious to anyone else in the store. But when no weirdly pale woman materialized, he decided to make a move before his ears started to bleed.
The kid couldn't be older than about nineteen, and Dean had to clear his throat twice before he glanced up from his magazine and jumped.
"Jesus, I didn't hear you come up," the kid said, rubbing at his mouth.
"Didn't mean to sneak up on you," Dean said. "The music, you know -"
"What?" the kid half-yelled, barely audible over the sound of Britney Spears begging them to gimme more.
"I said I'm looking for someone!" Dean yelled back.
The kid looked confused. "Dude, you do realize this is a music store?"
Dean leaned across and turned off the CD. There was no way he could have a conversation with someone whose brain was being destroyed by bad music at the same time. He had a duty to protect people, after all.
"Hey!" the kid said indignantly. "You can't do that!"
"I need two minutes of your time, then I'm out of here and you can put it on permanent repeat at full blast for all I care," Dean said. He didn't actually mean to sound threatening, but he guessed his musical outrage was coming across a bit more violently than he intended, judging by the way the kid swallowed and nodded shakily.
"Okay, let's try this again," Dean said. "I'm looking for someone. A woman. Dark hair, kind of pretty, really pale. I mean, real pale. Ring any bells?"
The kid frowned. "You mean Stacey?"
"Stacey, right," Dean said. "You know where I can find her?"
"She quit yesterday," the kid said. "It was kinda sudden - this should've been her shift today, they got me in to cover instead -"
"Tell me, you got a phone number for her? Or her address?" Dean asked.
The kid looked nervous. "I don't think I'm supposed to -"
Dean tilted his head, and the kid swallowed visibly. "She's not in any trouble, is she?"
"I just want to see her, that's all," Dean said soothingly. "So you do have an address?"
~*~
By the time Dean arrived back at Lisa's house, he was fuming. The kid had given him the address, but while the street had been genuine, the house number hadn't been. If he'd thought the kid had lied to him, he'd have gone back to the store and taken him apart, but frankly, Dean didn't credit anyone who liked Britney Spears' music with that much intelligence. More likely, this Stacey chick had given a fake address.
Which was kind of weird in its own right, because if she'd been possessed by a demon, surely the store should have had the girl's real address? Unless she'd already been possessed when she started working there. But then why would she have waited this long to go after Ben?
Dean had the horrible feeling he was overlooking something crucial. It wasn't a feeling he enjoyed when a kid was missing.
Lisa hurried to meet him, but Dean was relieved to see that she remembered to stay behind the salt line, like he'd warned her.
"Did you find anything?" she asked.
"I found a few good leads, but no luck so far," he admitted. "Does the name Stacey ring any bells for you? Dark hair, really pale?"
Lisa shook her head, but he could see her face hardening. "No, she doesn't sound familiar. You think that's the bitch who took my son?"
"I think so," Dean said. "Though who or what she is, I'm not sure yet."
Lisa nodded, biting her lip. "I've called the parents of all of his friends, just to make sure no one's seen him. And to warn them to keep an eye on their own kids, in case - in case there'll be more, like last time."
"Good thinking," Dean agreed. "Though I've got a hunch there won't be more this time."
"What do you -" Lisa began, and cut off suddenly.
Dean turned at the same moment, having heard the same sound. He pulled out his gun and threw the door open.
No one was there, but a folded piece of paper was lying on the doorstep.
Dean stepped forward, keeping his gun steady, and checked up and down the street. He wasn't really expecting to see anyone suspicious - if he was dealing with a demon, they could be long gone by now - but it was worth checking. After a moment, he picked the note up cautiously and stepped back into the house.
"What does it say?" Lisa asked, reaching out for the note.
Dean let her take it and unfold it, standing beside her so he could see too.
In looping handwriting, the note simply gave an address, and beneath that just two words: "Sunset, alone."
Dean restrained himself from cursing, for Lisa's sake. It confirmed his suspicions that this whole set-up was a trap, one aimed at him. That Ben was in danger because of him. There was no other reason for the note, and no other reason for it to have been left immediately after he had arrived back at the house.
"Why would they do this?" Lisa asked. Her voice sounded shaky, but there was an underlying anger there, and Dean really hoped it wasn't about to be directed at him, even if he did deserve it. "You know what they want, don't you? Tell me, Dean!"
"I think they want me," Dean admitted slowly. "I'm sorry, Lisa. I never thought anything like this could happen."
"For god's sake, Dean, you hadn't seen either of us in eight months. There's no reason why you should've expected someone to go after Ben because of you," Lisa told him firmly. "We just - we just need to figure out what we're going to do to get him back."
"That's easy enough," Dean said. "I'm going to go there, and I'm going to get him back."
Lisa stared at him. "Is that safe? I mean, if they're after you -"
"Sure," Dean said, with a bright certainty he was far from feeling. "It'll be fine, you'll have Ben back safe and sound in no time. I just need to make a couple of phone calls, then I'll head over there. Do you know where that address is?"
"Down near the reservoir somewhere," Lisa said. "I'll get the map..." She headed off up the stairs.
Dean took the opportunity to call Bobby and fill him in.
"So you think this Stacey woman is possessed and holding Ben?" Bobby summarized. "You got any idea who she might be?"
Dean shook his head, even knowing Bobby couldn't see him. "If Stacey's possessed, it could be any demon who doesn't like me. Which is all of them."
"So what's your plan?" Bobby asked. "Sam should be there in an hour or two."
Dean sighed. "We can't wait that long, Bobby."
"You'd better not be thinking of going in there by yourself," Bobby said. "You know it's a trap, and it's you she's after!"
"Sure," Dean agreed, lowering his voice in case Lisa overheard. "But I'm not waiting around here for her to decide I'm not coming and take the kid apart."
"You don't know who the h- who you're dealing with here, Dean," Bobby warned him. His voice had the furious tone that Dean had heard more and more over the past year. "You can't just go charging in there without backup."
"Does it really matter, at this stage?" Dean said wearily, suddenly tired of all the pretence. "It's not like I've got much left to lose, Bobby."
"You got plenty left to lose," Bobby told him, his voice hard. "And you'd better get that through that damn-fool head of yours sooner rather than later."
"Two months is all the later I've got," Dean said simply. "I've gotta go Bobby, I need to call Sam and tell him what's happening."
He hung up before Bobby could argue further.
~*~
Sam checked his mirror and took the exit, staying just below the speed limit. He couldn't afford to waste any time. The Colt was a comforting weight at his side as he drove, reassurance that he would be able to help Dean when he got there.
"Damnit, Dean," he hissed under his breath. Even driving all day hadn't reduced his anger, just banked it, ready to blaze up at the first opportunity. He still couldn't believe Dean had just taken off without waiting for him. Admittedly, he'd ended up being away far longer than planned - he'd told Ruby they would have to be back before morning so Dean wouldn't get suspicious, but he'd struggled with what she was showing him and it had been late afternoon before he'd made it back to Bobby's - but still, Dean could have waited. Especially since the reason Sam had been gone was because he was working on a way to save his brother.
Dean had gotten reckless, though, ever since his deal. It had only gotten worse as the months passed. Sam was determined he was going to save him; Dean seemed equally determined not to be saved, and acted accordingly. Sometimes it was like his brother had a goddamn deathwish, and it made Sam so furious that he wanted to punch him.
That was just another of the many things they couldn't talk about these days. Communication had never really been a Winchester strong point, but Dean's apparent conviction that Sam would drop dead the second they talked about anything even vaguely related to breaking that goddamn deal had left them with less and less to say to each other as the year rushed by.
Well, Sam refused to lose him. And once he broke the deal, he was going to punch his brother, then hug him for about an hour, no matter how much Dean protested. And then probably yell at him for another hour, until Dean yelled back and they finally cleared the air of all the issues that had been piling up between them.
His cell phone rang, lying on the seat next to him.
Sam pulled over as quickly as he could without causing an accident and grabbed it. "Dean?"
"Hey, Sam." Dean sounded grim, and Sam took a deep breath.
"Is Ben - did you -"
"He's still alive, far as I know," Dean reassured him swiftly, though his voice didn't lighten. "I don't think they'll kill him, at least not until they get what they want."
"Which is what?" Sam asked, already knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.
"Me," Dean said succinctly. "We found a note with an address."
"Okay, well, I'll be there in an hour or two," Sam said. "We can go check it out as soon as I get there."
Dean was silent, and Sam felt his heart rate pick up. "Dean? Dean - oh no, you'd better not be thinking what I think you are."
"I can't wait that long, Sam," Dean said finally. "The note said to come at sunset, and to come alone. Ben's life is at risk. I can't wait, I can't take that chance."
"But you can throw away your own?" Sam demanded furiously. "You're just going to walk right in there, knowing it's a trap?"
"I'll be careful," Dean said. "But yeah, I'm going in. That's what I was calling to tell you. I'm heading over there in a minute."
"Dean, no," Sam said. "Come on, you can wait an hour for me to get there, they won't kill him if they think there's still a chance you'll go after him, they're bluffing. You can't go in there without someone watching your back!"
Dean sighed. "I can't take that risk, Sam. I'm sorry."
"Dean," Sam said, feeling sick, "Dean, wait, c'mon - Dean -"
"Watch your back, Sammy," Dean said, and the line went dead.
"DEAN!" Sam yelled furiously, and punched the speed dial for his brother's cell phone. It went straight to voicemail: Dean had switched it off.
Sam swore and wrenched the car back onto the road. This time, he ignored the speed limit entirely.
~*~
"I found it on the map," Lisa said, re-entering the living room. "I was right, it's down by the reservoir."
Dean shoved his cell phone into his pocket. God, he always hated hanging up on Sammy, even when he knew it was the only option. He hated having to switch off his phone, too, something he only did in situations like this. He wished this whole thing could have gone down differently.
"Show me," he said, forcing himself to focus as he turned to face Lisa.
Lisa pointed out the building on the map. "There's a couple of abandoned warehouses and stuff down there, I think it's one of them. It's a run-down area of town, most people avoid it after dark."
"Sounds like the place," Dean said. "Okay, I'll call you as soon as I know anything -"
Lisa stared at him. "I'm coming with you."
Dean paused. "It's not a good idea, Lisa."
"That's my son they've got," Lisa said defiantly. "I'm not going to just sit around here hoping for the best!"
Dean winced. "Lisa - look, I respect that, believe me, I do. That's always kind of been how I feel about this job - but this is gonna be dangerous, okay? Demons - they're not something to mess about with. You're brave as hell, and I know you'd do anything to protect your son, but you're not trained for this." He hesitated, then decided to come right out and say it, in the hope that it might deter her from following him. "And even if you were, that note said I was to come alone. So please, Lisa, stay here, okay? Ben needs you, but he needs you to stay safe, you get me?"
Lisa looked like she was close to tears again now, and Dean was sorry about that, but he believed what he was saying. Hunting was no business for amateurs, no matter how well-motivated.
After a moment, Lisa nodded. "You call me the moment you have him," she said, her voice all the more deadly for the way it shook. "You call me."
"I promise," Dean said.
~*~
He left the Impala a street away from the address he'd been given, and waited only long enough to grab extra holy water and ammo from the trunk.
He wasn't planning on just walking up to the front door and knocking; there was a difference between accepting he was taking a dangerous risk that might well get him killed and actually being suicidally stupid, even if Sam tended to assume he fell into the latter category. Instead he checked out the building from a distance, keeping out of sight and working his way round to identify all the exits and see if there was any sign of Ben or the demon chick.
Lisa had been right that the building was an abandoned warehouse. Most of the street seemed to be made up of derelict buildings, with boarded-up windows or shattered panes of glass. There was no sign that anyone was there at all.
The sun was creeping lower along the horizon.
"Here goes nothing," Dean muttered, and headed for the half-hidden side-entrance he'd identified as his best option.
He stuck to the shadows and moved from one piece of cover to another as quickly as he could, keeping his gun lowered but in his hand. The door itself delayed him for a moment while he picked the padlock, but a few seconds later he was inside, pulling the door shut behind him.
It was dark inside, and he paused for a second to let his eyes adjust. He was in a narrow hallway with a door at one end and a flight of stairs leading upwards at the other. He headed towards the door and flattened himself against the wall, listening for any sound. When he couldn't hear anything, he shifted so he could peer around the corner through the door.
The room through the doorway was huge and dark. From what he could make out, Dean figured that it was the warehouse proper. There were still rotting boxes and crumbling crates stacked on the floor in huge piles, making it impossible to see for certain whether anyone was in there.
Someone pressed up against him, near enough for him to feel the swell of her breasts against his back, and closed a hand around the wrist holding his gun.
"Ssh, Dean. Why don't you give me that," she murmured, barely above a whisper.
Dean allowed her to take the weapon, his mind working furiously. He still remembered that voice, despite the months that had passed.
"Casey."
"Surprise," she said, stepping back. He could hear the smile in her voice. "Okay, you can turn around now. But keep your voice down."
Dean turned, and couldn't help but recoil at the sight of her. She was still as beautiful as she had been when he'd met her in that bar, as she had been when she'd stretched out in the circle and laughed at him - as she hadn't been with her blood staining the floor after Sam shot her with the Colt. But now he understood why the kids had all mentioned how pale she was. Deathly pale.
"Casey's a cooler name than Stacey," was all he said.
She gave him a hard-edged smile. "I agree. But we didn't want you to realize who you were dealing with too soon."
"We? Oh, great, your boyfriend's around here too?" Dean asked.
"Of course," Casey said. "We come as a pair, just like you and Sam." She glanced around meaningfully. "Well. I guess that's not quite true these days, is it?"
"So how did you manage to come back?" Dean asked, ignoring that entirely. "Because the last time I saw you, you were pretty damn dead. And okay, you're looking... not exactly a picture of health right now, I'll admit -"
Casey arched an eyebrow. "And whose fault is that?"
"I'm just surprised you didn't pick yourself out a new body when you came back," Dean said. "One a bit less... dead. Or whatever."
"Are you saying you don't like this body any more, Dean?" Casey asked, running the hand not holding his gun provocatively down her side. "I didn't have much choice in the matter, let's leave it at that. You'll hurt my feelings at this rate, you know. And here I thought I was being nice to you."
"Somehow I don't class kidnapping Ben as 'nice'", Dean said. "Where is he? I'm here now, you've got what you want, so you can let him go."
"He's not been hurt," Casey said. "I made sure of that. You should be thanking me, really. My 'boyfriend', as you refer to him, had rather different plans." She lowered her voice further, almost confidingly. "He's still holding a bit of a grudge about what happened. You weren't exactly his favorite human to begin with, and after that..."
"So that's what this is about? Payback for what happened in Elizabethville?" Dean asked. "What, you were too scared to go after us, you had to use a little kid as bait?"
Casey laughed softly. "Let's just say we had our reasons. Look, Dean, I'll give it to you straight. He wants you dead. Well, his real issue is with your brother, but he'll settle for killing you for now. Preferably slowly and painfully. As for me... I like you, you know. I did notice you told Sam not to shoot me. Pity he never bothers to listen to you, but still. That counts for a lot in my book. So I'm going to do you a favor, Dean."
Dean raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah?"
Casey stepped closer, right into his space. Dean forced himself to hold his ground, and she leaned in to murmur into his ear, her breath washing over his neck. "I'm going to let you go."
She pulled back far enough to meet his eyes. Dean wasn't sure his expression was like, but it made her laugh softly.
"I'm not leaving without Ben," Dean said bluntly.
"I didn't suggest you should," Casey said, sounding amused. "He's in one of the offices upstairs, you can take him with you." She turned and started walking towards the stairs.
Dean hesitated for a moment, then followed her. He didn't seem to have many other options.
"Why?" he asked as they made their way up the stairs. "Assuming I even believe you, why would you go to all this trouble and then just let us go?"
"I wasn't lying when I said I liked you," Casey said quietly. "Keep your voice down. I couldn't talk him out of this plan, so I went along with it. But I don't think it's... in our best interests, shall we say. And besides, I've never liked being a pawn."
Dean's eyes narrowed. "A pawn for who?"
Casey threw a sardonic glance over her shoulder. "I'm not suicidal, Dean, believe it or not. This way. And I mean it, keep it down - if he catches us, you're dead."
"That's what they all say," Dean muttered. Then louder - but not as loud as before - he asked, "What's to stop me from getting the kid out of here and then coming back in and sending you both back to hell?"
"You mean other than the fact that we'll kill you if you try?" Casey said. "My goodwill extends to giving you a chance, Dean. But that's it. If you come back in, the best I can do for you is try to make it quick."
Dean didn't reply. If he left the two demons at large, they would still be a threat to Ben and Lisa. Not to mention Sam - he really didn't like those hints about Sam being the real target, or someone else being involved. Sure, Casey might be willing to let him go - though he'd believe it when it happened - but did that mean he could just turn his back and let her go?
Demons always have their own agenda, he thought. Question is, what's hers?
"Here," Casey said, opening a door.
Ben was sitting on a chair, ropes wound around him, kicking his heels against the chair legs. He looked up and brightened instantly when he saw Dean standing behind Casey. "Dean!"
"Hey, kiddo," Dean said, crossing to him and pulling out a knife to cut away the ropes. "How're you doing? You hurt?"
"No, just bored out of my skull. And I'm hungry," Ben complained.
"Yeah? How about we get out of here and find you something to eat?" Dean suggested.
"Keep it down, or no one will be going anywhere," Casey warned them, glancing down the corridor worriedly.
"C'mon, Ben," Dean said, helping him up. "Let's go."
Casey led the way down the stairs, looking nervously in the direction of the door the to warehouse proper, and opened the side door Dean had entered through.
"Go, and be quick," she whispered.
Dean shot a swift glance outside to check the coast was clear, then urged Ben out. "Thanks, Casey," he said quietly, turning back to her.
She shoved his gun at him. "Just go."
He took the gun and stepped outside. The door closed behind him before he could say anything else.
"Okay, Ben," Dean whispered. "We're gonna run across to the other side of the alley, fast as you can, okay? Don't stop till you reach those packing cases over there. Got it?"
"Got it," Ben said.
"Now," Dean said, and they ran, Dean slower than usual so Ben could keep up.
Even as they moved, Dean's mind was working furiously. Leave with Ben or go back in? Trust Casey to keep her lover from going after Ben again, or exorcise them both back to hell? Go back and wait for Sam or take the risk alone?
The smart thing to do would be to give Ben his cell phone and send him back to the Impala, then go back in and try to take the demons out. Much as he appreciated Casey's assistance, she was a demon, and he didn't trust her, not an inch. Maybe she hadn't killed Ben - this time - but she had killed Richie and who knew how many others, and there was no way he could justify leaving her or her lover free to kill again. Besides, what did he have to lose? Better for him to take the risk alone than for Sam to go in there with him, especially since Sam was the one who'd shot both the demons back in Elizabethville, and was probably their real target.
And yet.
He wanted to see Sam again, wanted to laugh at the sight of whatever pink monstrosity Bobby had picked out for him. He wanted Sam to yell at him for hanging up on him and then call him a jerk and clap him on the shoulder. He wanted to see Ben back with his mother.
It was such a fucking stupid thing to realize now, when he only had two months left, but there it was: he wanted to live.
"Which way, Dean?" Ben asked as they ducked behind the packing cases.
Dean took a deep breath. "This way, c'mon."
They stayed in the shadows but ran up the alley as fast as Ben could manage, Dean casting wary glances over his shoulder. There was no sign yet of anyone emerging from the warehouse.
When he looked back, there was a figure standing in the middle of the alleyway, just a few feet in front of them.
Ben gasped. "Him!"
Dean didn't need the confirmation: he recognized him immediately as the priest they'd called Father Gil before they'd realized he was possessed. He looked much the same, minus the priest outfit, and was just as horribly pale as Casey.
He was smiling.
Dean was already aiming his weapon at his chest, though he knew it was unlikely to cause much damage.
"Ben," he said quietly, "I want you to run past him, and keep running until you get to my car, okay? You run and you don't stop and you don't look back. Got it?"
"Got it," Ben said. His voice was scared in a way it hadn't been before, but Dean couldn't spare a glance down to make sure he was okay: he didn't dare take his eyes off the demon.
"Okay, go now, Ben, go!" Dean ordered.
Ben took off, head down and running flat-out. Dean kept his eyes on the demon, a silent promise of what he'd do if it did anything to the kid.
Father Gil's head turned as Ben passed, following him, as if he was considering reaching out to him.
The sound of Dean cocking the hammer was very loud in the narrow alleyway.
Father Gil slowly looked back to him, black eyes glinting. "Do you honestly think shooting me will help you this time?"
~*~
Sam pulled up in front of Lisa's house, and barely bothered to put the car into park before he was out and running up to her door.
"Lisa!" he yelled, pounding on it. "Lisa, answer the door! Lisa!"
The door opened a crack and Lisa's frightened face appeared. Looking down, Sam caught sight of the salt line, and knew at once that she wasn't stupid enough to come out to him.
"Lisa, I'm Sam Winchester, Dean's brother, maybe you remember me. I know he's gone to find Ben, and I need to go help him, I need you to tell me where he is."
Lisa was shaking her head nervously. "He said not to cross the line, that -"
"I know what he told you," Sam said as fast as he could. He knew he ought to be gentler with her, that she had to be half out of her mind with worry, but Dean's life was in danger and he just didn't have time for this. "Step back - I'll cross the line, okay? A demon can't do that, that's why Dean got you to lay the salt line, so if I can cross it, you'll know I'm not a demon, I'm the real thing, okay? Lisa, step back."
Lisa looked uncertain, but she took one wavering step back, and Sam stepped into the house, crossing the salt line.
"See? Lisa, I need you to tell me where Dean is, he's in danger and I need to get to him. Please, Lisa."
Lisa hesitated for a moment, then nodded suddenly, firmly, as if she'd come to a decision she'd been struggling with for a while. "I'll take you there. Let's go."
Under other circumstances, Sam would have argued, told her it was too dangerous, begged her to stay in her house. Instead, he turned and ran for the car.
"Down by the reservoir," Lisa instructed, sliding in beside him. "Head left at the end of this road."
Sam drove faster than he would ever normally have dared. Good luck to any police officer who tried to stop him now. But it was dark by now, and the streets were quiet.
"Okay, a right at the end of this street," Lisa said eventually. "And it should be at the end of an alley down there, an abandoned warehouse -" She cut off as Sam made the turn. "That's Dean's car!"
"Yeah," Sam said tersely, pulling his car to a screeching halt next to it, abandoning it in the middle of the street. He was out and heading for the entrance to the alleyway without even bothering to switch off the engine.
"Mom!"
Sam paused and swung round in time to see Ben leap out from where he must have been hiding on the other side of the Impala and run to his mother.
"Ben!" Lisa cried, dropping to her knees to wrap her arms around him. "Oh, thank god -"
There was no sign that Dean was with him, though. Sam turned away again and ran towards the alley.
~*~
"I figure it might be worth a try," Dean said with a hard-edged grin. "Can't hurt, can it? Well, not me, anyway."
"I wouldn't count on that, Dean," Casey's familiar voice said in his ear. She was suddenly pressed against his back again - only this time she had a knife pressed to his throat.
Dean tried not to swallow, and let her take his gun away from him.
"Thank you," Father Gil said, a warmer note creeping into his voice for the first time. "Now then. Why don't we take this back inside? Then we can take our time about this."
"Tempting as that sounds," Dean said, keeping his voice bored, "I'm afraid you'll have to count me out. Prior engagement and all that."
"Yes, so I've heard," Casey said. He felt the angle of her head shift as she addressed her lover. "I was contacted. Sam's on his way, he'll be here any minute. We need to cut this short."
"How... disappointing," Father Gil said, and raised one hand, clenching it into a fist.
Dean didn't even have time to figure out what he was doing before the pain hit him.
It was agony, agony of a kind he'd experienced only once before, when the yellow-eyed demon had pinned him to the wall of a dark cabin and torn his insides apart. For a moment, it felt as if he were back there, hatred shining in his father's yellow eyes, before the world came back into focus. He was slumped back against Casey, who had one arm around his waist now, holding him upright with inhuman ease. His throat felt raw, but he had no idea whether he'd been screaming or not.
He choked on his own blood and weakly spat a mouthful onto the ground beside him.
"Let's go," Casey urged her lover. "We need to get out of here before Sam arrives."
Dean tried dizzily to focus. "Sam..."
"We've still got another minute or two," Father Gil said, and raised his hand again.
Dean was pretty sure he was screaming this time. He could feel muscle shredding and bone breaking, breath ever harder to catch as the agony ripped through him.
When Father Gil lowered his hand, it didn't stop. The damage was there, whether he was causing more or not, and Dean coughed weakly, the sick, rich taste of warm blood in his mouth.
Casey lowered him to the ground. Dean almost wished she'd just dropped him; perhaps then he'd have passed out. The expression in her eyes was almost sympathetic, and Dean couldn't stand it.
"I think we can go now," Father Gil said, his voice laced with satisfaction.
"Yes," Casey agreed softly. She leaned down and murmured, "Sorry, Dean. I did try. And this is quicker than he was planning, believe me."
Her fingers were cold against his face for a moment, then they were gone, and so was she.
Dean fought for air that couldn't seem to reach his lungs, choking horribly on his blood and finding himself unable to turn his head enough to spit it out. The world was starting to darken around him.
"Dean! Dean!"
For a moment, Dean genuinely thought it was a hallucination. Then he was selfishly glad that it wasn't. He'd never wanted Sam to see this, but god, it was good to see him. Even though Sam was crying, salt falling onto Dean's face, about the only thing he could feel beyond the pain.
"No no no," Sam was saying. There was a flash of agony as Sam touched his chest, as if looking for a wound he could put pressure on, Dean thought dazedly, but there wasn't one. Dean tried to open his mouth, to say something, anything, but found himself wheezing instead, fighting for breath.
"Oh Jesus, Dean, breathe," Sam ordered, then he was sealing his lips across Dean's.
Dean could feel Sam forcing air into his mouth, but it still didn't seem to be reaching his burning lungs. Even the sensation of Sam's lips against his own was growing dimmer now, fading into grey.
"Don't you dare leave me," he heard Sam tell him. "Damnit, Dean, stay with me! Dean!"
Sam, Dean tried to say, trying to obey, but there was nothing left, only...
Darkness.
~*~
"DEAN!" Sam yelled again, begging now, almost choking on his own tears and fury and desperation.
They were supposed to have another two months. He was supposed to have another two months with his brother, and he was supposed to save him so they could spend the rest of their lives together, and how the hell could Dean be dying right in front of him?
He pressed his lips to Dean's again, frantically trying to force air into his brother's lungs, refusing to give up, despite the taste of Dean's blood warm in his mouth. Refusing to give up, even now that Dean had gone still and the sound of his choking had stopped.
"Dean," he said again, against his brother's mouth, more a sob than anything else. "Dean!"
He was crying helplessly now, hands clutching Dean's face and smoothing back his hair, his mouth pressing to Dean's again, not so much mouth-to-mouth this time as simply seeking a connection, seeking anything, any last sign of life. Almost a kiss, the first time he'd kissed his brother since he was eight, Dean's blood warm in his mouth and on his lips.
"Don't leave me," Sam whispered again against his brother's lips, but when he pulled back, Dean was still staring sightlessly up at the dark sky.
He didn't know how long he sat there, tasting tears and his brother's blood. For the first time in ten months, the clock had stopped ticking.
~*~
"...The hell?" Dean said.
Sam didn't reply. Dean couldn't exactly blame him: he clearly had other things on his mind. Like the fact that he was currently crying over Dean's bloody corpse.
...Yeah, Dean didn't really know what to do with that either.
"Seriously," Dean said weakly, tearing his eyes away from Sam and... himself... and staring around wildly, disbelievingly, almost expecting someone to appear and tell him what the hell was going on. "Seriously, the hell?"
Chapter Two