John Wincester was driving when he got the call. He had several cell phones, but there was one line specifically devoted to 'special' calls. He pulled the car over and checked the caller I.D.

"What is it, dad?" Dean asked, cautiously. He was always slightly cautious when certain numbers were called. Sam sulked in the back seat and didn't acknowledge what was going on. That was the other reason Dean was being so cautious, because being around the two of them was straight anxiety. You couldn't figure out what either of them were going to do at any given minute, although it was a pretty fair bet that they weren't going to get along by the end of a conversation.

"I have to take this." Grumbled John, and loudly stepped out of the car. He could tell that his eldest wanted to know who it was on the phone, but he didn't feel the desire or necessity to explain to his son who he wanted to talk to on the phone. That was not how this relationship was going to work.

"Maria, what is it? I'm really busy, I'm on a -"

"Trip, I know John. Just shut up and listen for a minute." The voice on the other end sounded exasperated, and even more exhausted than usual.

"Are you there John?"

"Yes, you told me to shut up and -"

"Fine. You made your point. I just thought you'd like to know that your daughter was arrested."

John took a deep breath. He'd never let Bobby know, but he had read and was trying to use the techniques from that book that Bobby had given to him for his last birthday. It didn't help. He glanced over his shoulder at the car, and noticed Dean move suddenly, trying to prevent his father from knowing that he was eavesdropping. He took another breath, a few more steps away from the car, and lowered his voice.

"Come again, Maria..." His voice was scratchy.

"Your daughter was arrested. I don't know how much more clearly you would like me to say it."

"Well what the hell did she do? Is she in prison? Do you need bail?"

"O.K. Slow down, John. She wasn't processed or anything. She got into a pretty nasty fight at school - that involved a teacher - I might add, and the school agreed not to press charges but expelled her. And she is sitting in the living room with a police officer mouthing off to me now. That's the story John."

"Well what do you want me to do?"

"Are you serious John? I guess I just wanted you to know that you spawned a delinquent. That's all. I'll be going now."

John took another breath, and counted down from ten.

"How does this keep happening, Maria? How do you let her get into situations like this?"

"Oh, no you don't John Winchester! You do not get to blame something on a single mother as you drive around the country doing a job that no one asks you to do. If you could do such a bang-up job maybe you could show up once in an while and raise your own god damned daughter."

John went silent. This was how their conversations had gone for a while now, but he couldn't really fault Maria. He hadn't been there. Seventeen years ago he had left the kids at Bobby's for a weekend to go on a hunt, and that hunt had brought him to Maria's door. He saved her life one time, and she wanted to thank him, and normally he would have said no but he missed his wife and he was drunk and depressed and she was hot. And it was one weekend. One weekend that nine-months later brought another responsibility into his life. A responsibility he had deftly avoided for nearly two decades.

"Put her on the phone." It was a command, but his voice was soft and deflated. Maria had gotten under his skin and he was tired.

There was yelling in the background and some slammed doors. John heard the muffled sounds of a male voice (whom he assumed to be the police officer) talking to his daughter and strongly advising that she come to the phone. Finally he heard this:

"What?"

Time for the breathing exercises again.

"Excuse me young lady? If I were you I'd take a moment to think about who your talking to."

"Oh. Didn't recognize your voice. Haven't heard it since my birthday."

John winced, but he knew this battle wasn't going to be won easily. Even if he deserved this, he was still her father and she was still his child.

"Antonia, you listen to me right now," any and all timidity was gone from his voice - rough and gruff John Winchester was back; "You are in a whole lot of trouble right now. Do you understand me?"

"Well the nice cop took the cuffs off, so I think I'll be okay."

"Shut your mouth and listen very carefully. You are in a mess of trouble right now, young lady. And I am not happy with you."

John waited. The other end of the phone call was silent.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Well you told me to shut up, so..."

John held the phone away from his ear for a moment. He was beyond angry, but he had to smile. The apple did not fall far from the absentee tree it seemed.

"You and me are going to have a long conversation."

"Going to, I thought that's what we were doing right now."

"I'll be there..." He checked his watch. How quickly could he get there, and what was he going to tell Sam and Dean? "...in two days. Can you stay out of trouble until then?"

"Maybe."

"Excuse me?" He was angry again.

"I'll try."

John shut the phone angrily and tried the breathing exercises again. They weren't working. This was exactly the worst timing for this situation. He felt that he was at the precipice of finally reaching the conclusion of his life's work. He was going to catch and kill the demon that had taken everything from him. This was not the time to be dealing with a teenager with authority issues, he already had to deal with Sam. And with the boys as on edge with him as they had been recently this was not the time to reveal a secret that he had kept away from them for seventeen years. But family was family, and there was a chance he might die on this final mission, and he'd rather go out knowing that all three of his children were on some kind of 'non-criminal' path before he did. John took another deep breath and picked up the phone.

"Bobby, what do you have for me in New Mexico? No - not related to yellow eyes, just something that can keep the boys occupied for a couple days. I have to take care of something there. OK, let me write that down."

Some secrets were best kept for a while longer, John had decided.