~x~x~x~x~x~
PART TWO:
October 2003
She was a week shy of her twenty-second birthday when she saw a Winchester again. It was eleven-thirty, a half hour until closing time at Mac's Tavern in downtown Minneapolis and just a few regulars were left when he strode through the front door and sank into the booth in the quietest corner. Not thinking anything of it, she sighed as she slid off her stool and headed over to take his order.
"Hi there," she greeted him with the polite but meaningless smile she used on customers. Not being much of a people-person, she hated this job but it came with tips and a paycheck alone wasn't going to keep her rent paid and her car on the road. "Listen, it's last call in ten minutes so if you want more than one…"
Her voice caught in her throat when he looked up and met her eyes. It only took a second to place where she'd seen him before and her heart stopped when recognition hit her. It may have been almost twelve years but she remembered it like it was yesterday. She remembered those two weeks of blissful freedom, she remembered what happened after she got home, and she remembered that he was the one who had taken her back there.
"One's fine," he told her with a no nonsense nod. "Make it a Bud."
And she remembered his sons.
"You do serve Bud, don't you?" he asked in a deep, rumbling voice, eyeing her with a hint of amusement.
Crap, she was staring. "Oh, uh, yeah," she stammered. "Be right back."
He stayed for fifteen minutes, sitting with slumped shoulders and a brooding expression as he drank his Bud alone. He kept checking his watch as if he had somewhere to be and continually glanced up at the front door.
John Winchester. She couldn't help but stare at him, wondering what he was doing here, what he'd been up to all these years … where his sons were now. It was with a start she realized her eyes kept flitting towards the door also, waiting, expecting, hoping.
"What's with you, Laney?" the bartender and bar owner asked as she finished serving the last call round. He looked over at the older man in the corner who was rising to his feet to leave. "You know that guy or something? You've been staring at him since he came in."
"Brad, can I head out early, tonight?" she asked, ignoring his questions and already untying her money apron. She didn't wait for an answer but heard his frustrated huff as she hustled her way over to the front door, her eyes glued to the disappearing back of the man in the brown leather jacket.
She felt the cold October wind biting through her thin top and spared a moment to regret not taking the time to grab her coat as she tailed the man down the street. He was walking quickly with a purposeful stride and she hung back about half a block, not really sure why she was following him in the first place. All she knew was a wave of panic had come over her when she had seen him leaving and all she could think of was the opportunity that was walking out that door. A chance at possibly seeing Dean again…
Why she didn't just call out to him, she didn't know. It was simple, really.
'Hi, I'm Laney. You're Dean's dad, right? Is he around? How is he?"
She sighed as she kept walking, sliding her fingers into her jeans pockets to keep them warm and speeding up as he rounded the corner ahead of her.
'Oh, Dean's married? With two point five kids? That's nice. I'm happy for him. No, you don't have to tell him I was asking about him; he wouldn't remember me anyway.'
Laney slowed as she reached the corner, peering around it and squinting her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the small parking lot beyond. As she stepped forward, it occurred to her that this was a bad idea on so many levels but she didn't have time to reconsider before she was grabbed roughly from behind. She tried to elbow her attacker in a basic self-defence move but he was too fast and before she knew what was happening, her back was slammed against the brick wall of the corner building and the sawed-off barrel of a shotgun pressed into her throat.
"Don't move or you'll be tasting rock salt for a month," John growled.
She just nodded and stopped struggling.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you following me? You said midnight; I got ten minutes still."
"I just work at the bar," she managed, not sure who he thought she was but terrified at the feel of cold steel digging into the soft flesh under her chin.
"Yeah, right." He pressed his forearm painfully across her shoulders. "You always follow your patrons out the door?"
She shook her head. 'I…I recognized you. I just wanted to ask you about…"
"Nuh-uh, I'll be the one asking the questions here." He pushed the shotgun harder against her throat. "Now what do the demons have planned for my son?"
That caught her by surprise. "Dean?" she whispered but gasped when she saw two men appear suddenly out of the darkness behind him.
Her eyes widening must have alerted him to the newcomers but not quickly enough. One of the men swung a fist at him, striking him on the side of his face as he turned around.
Her curiosity of how he was flung so far across the parking lot from a single blow was overridden by the shock of the shotgun going off just as it was yanked away from her neck. Pellets of buckshot – or was it rock salt? – sprayed the wall next to her head, a few stray ones stinging her neck and collarbone. She instinctively ducked, sliding down the wall to a crouched position and raising her arms for protection.
But the men ignored her. They both immediately turned and headed over to where John had landed on the gravel. One grabbed the front of his jacket and stood over him, landing a couple of hard punches to his face while the other stood back with his arms crossed.
Laney pressed a hand to her neck, confirming the stinging was just a couple of small wounds and wiping away the trickle of blood before pushing herself to her feet. "Hey!" she yelled at the two men without thinking. "Lay off!"
She rushed forward to intervene but the man standing aside spun around with inhuman speed and wrapped a hand around her throat. "Back off, bitch," he hissed and she could have sworn his eyes went black. Not just dark, but solid black – the pupils, the irises, the whole things. He threw her backwards and the breath was forced out of her as she hit the wall and slumped to the ground at its base.
John used the brief distraction to roll to the side and lash out. He splashed what looked like water from a flask at the man above him, who yelled and jumped back but recovered quickly and rewarded the downed man with a sharp kick to the ribs. Laney crawled to her knees and saw the discarded shotgun lying in the gravel a few feet away. She made a lunge for it, her mind spinning with memories of sitting with a seven-year-old Sam Winchester reading his dad's journal about monsters and his brother Dean explaining that they were real. Over the years she had convinced herself that was just three gullible children believing a parent's lies but these men…
Human or not, they looked like they were going to kill John Winchester. She got to her feet, pumped the shotgun once, and blasted a round of what she figured was indeed rock salt into the man who was standing watching, hitting him center mass. He cried out and staggered backwards and she quickly pumped the gun and fired again. This time he screamed and fell to the floor, a huge stream of black smoke billowing out of his mouth and up into the night sky.
Now she had the attention of the second man. He straightened up and strode towards her, an angry snarl on his face. She pumped the shotgun but was disheartened to discover it only held three rounds. She took a step backwards, not liking her odds. She spun the shotgun in her hands and swung it at him like a baseball bat, encouraged when she felt the handle connecting solidly with the side of his head.
But he didn't seem to be affected. He didn't even flinch as he reached up and snatched the weapon in his hand, tossing it aside without ever taking his eyes off hers. He lunged forward and shoved her back into the wall again, this time closing his fist around her throat and squeezing as he lifted her off her feet.
"Bad move little girl," the man growled at her, seemingly impervious to her kicking and thrashing as he cut off her air and held her in place. She clutched at his hand, trying to pry his fingers off her throat while kicking at him madly, panic taking over her thoughts very quickly. Her vision began to go, dark blotches starting around the edges and slowly moving inward as she felt her body losing strength. She thought she saw a glimpse of John Winchester's face behind the man and heard his deep voice saying something in a foreign language before she was suddenly falling to the ground, still fighting for air when the darkness took her.
~x~x~x~x~x~
She woke up in a car, a deep, throaty rumble almost lulling her back to sleep in the incredibly comfortable seat. Nevertheless, she forced her eyes open, her hand instinctively moving to massage her aching throat. She took in her surroundings quickly and found a silent John Winchester studying her from the driver's seat.
"Good, you're awake," he said simply.
Her mind replayed the events in the parking lot and she blurted out the biggest questions. "What happened? Who were those men?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Who?"
"Okay, what," she acknowledged.
He kept driving, glancing at her thoughtfully every few seconds but didn't answer.
"I deserve an explanation," she said finally, his silence making her uncomfortable.
He put his signal light on and turned into the parking lot of a seedy motel, killing the engine. He got out and walked briskly around to her side, opening her door and standing back. He tilted his head towards the room door in front of them. "Let's get inside."
Alarm bells were ringing like crazy in her head. Going into a motel room alone with a seriously shady guy when nobody knew where you were had bad horror movie written all over it.
He pulled back his leather jacket enough to let her see the handgun tucked inside his jeans. "That wasn't a suggestion," he added, giving her a hard stare.
She swallowed but did as he asked, allowing him to wrap his fingers around her elbow as he marched her to the door, unlocked it, and pushed her inside. He closed it behind him and turned to face her. Without saying anything, he tossed her the flask he had brought out in the parking lot scrimmage.
She caught it and gave him a curious look.
"Drink it," he commanded.
Crap, he was going to poison her. Or worse drug her and…
"It's just holy water," he divulged, still watching her closely as he moved over to a duffle on the bed and started rummaging around. He pulled out a bag of what looked like salt and started pouring a line of it on the floor all around her.
"Drink then step out of the circle."
Salt. She remembered the salt. Dean used to put a line of salt across the motel door every night and every time he left Sam alone in the room.
"I'm not a ghost," she told him. "Or a demon."
"Well I won't know that until you take a drink and step out of the circle." His voice was calm now and he stood with his arms folded, looking effectively foreboding.
She sighed, figuring what the hell as she took a long drink from the flask, lifting it up so he could see the liquid going down her throat. It actually felt good because her throat was still raspy and raw from being choked out. She swallowed and stepped sideways out of the circle of salt. "Satisfied?"
She saw his shoulders relax and he moved to sink into a cheap, wooden chair by the table, letting out a tired sigh as he did so. He wasn't exactly letting her leave but at least he was no longer in between her and the door. It was then that she noticed his face was bruised, his lip split, and there was blood matting his hair over his left ear.
"You the witch?" he asked her bluntly.
"Witch? What witch? No. Listen, like I told you, I just work at the bar."
"You said you recognized me. From where? I don't know you."
She hesitated, not sure why she was suddenly nervous. "It was a long time ago," she said finally. "I was just ten the last time we met."
He gestured for her to go on, leaning back in the chair and giving her a hard stare that didn't leave much room for disobeying.
"My name was Melanie Gorham," she explained, not bothering to elaborate that she now went by Melanie Pearce, her mother's maiden name. "I ran away from home when I was ten and your sons took me in and let me stay with them. When you came back, you took me home." She folded her arms across her chest, determined not to let talking about that time in her life rattle her.
Recognition hit his eyes and his face softened. "Mellie," he said with an acknowledging nod. "I do remember you. My son hardly spoke to me for a month because of you."
"It's Laney now," she said quickly. "I don't go by Mellie anymore."
"Okay, Laney it is." His voice was still gruff but he suddenly no longer had the intimidating, stone-faced persona she had seen in the bar and the parking lot. He smiled at her and she was surprised to find the sentiment reached his eyes. He studied her face intently for a long moment before giving her a satisfied look and standing up. He gestured towards the end of the bed. "Have a seat," he offered, though again his tone indicated it was more than a suggestion.
She wanted to ask about Dean, especially since he had brought the subject up, but she held her tongue. Her mind drifted to the boy she once knew as she stared at the eldest Winchester. He was handsome for an older guy and she couldn't help but wonder what Dean looked like now, all grown up. Probably not very good-looking, after all he'd been a bit of a goofy kid, but she didn't care.
She sat down obediently and he stepped up close to pull up her eyelid, peering into each of her eyes in turn. "Your throat alright?" he asked, his voice gentle now and he handed her another flask. "That one's whiskey," he explained with a wink.
She nodded and took a small sip before handing it back to him, watching as he took a long drink himself before tucking it away. He sat back down on the chair and let out a deep exhale. "Alright," he said. "Spill. You've still gotta explain why you were following me down the street."
She wasn't about to admit it she had unresolved issues with what happened all those years ago. She wasn't about to admit she still had this little secret compartment inside reserved for an eleven-year-old boy with green eyes. A boy who had offered to look after her. The first person who had made her feel worth looking after. The first person who had ever made her feel safe.
He wasn't the most patient of men and was clearly used to getting a response when he asked a question. "Okay, let's start with what happened twelve years ago," he pressed. "What's your story?"
He kept pushing the matter until he squeezed the Cliffs Notes version out of her. She hadn't talked about that time in years and it felt strange to be doing so now, especially to someone whom she held partly responsible for what happened. Leaving out any hidden feelings of blame as well as the gory details, she explained that her father had been abusive and he had been severely pissed that she had run away. She had managed to call Kate Milligan, the lady whose number John had given her, about a month after she had been returned home. Kate was a nurse at the hospital in Windom and had called the police right away. In the end, Laney had been put in foster care and her father had gone to jail. John seemed satisfied at the outcome.
She felt she'd divulged enough and it was his turn to give up some information. She was about to ask why he thought she was a witch and what those men in the parking lot really were but a different question came out when she spoke.
"How are Dean and Sam?"
He winced slightly at the question and shook his head. "Neck-deep in this crap, in this life."
"They both hunt monsters too?" After what she'd seen tonight, she was going to assume Dean's stories about his dad fighting these things was true after all.
He gave her a look of mild curiosity at the knowledge of what he did but continued. "Sammy went off to college a couple of years back but … but I don't think he'll be able to escape the target this family has on their backs. He'll be dragged back in sooner or later," he admitted before clearing his throat and changing the subject. "Do you keep in touch with Kate?"
She nodded. "Of course. She's like the only real family I have. Her and Adam."
"Adam?"
"Yeah, that's her son. She's a nurse and I was in the hospital for a few weeks after she got me out of my dad's house and she'd come see me every day. She was pregnant with Adam at the time and even once I got placed in the system she'd still come to see me. I used to go visit her all the time and I babysat Adam from when he was like, three years old. He's like a little brother to me," she smiled. Adam and Kate were the only consistently good things in her life and they meant everything to her. She often wondered what a screwed-up mess she would have been if they hadn't come into the picture.
She surprised herself at how much information she'd just given this man but was even more surprised when she saw the look on his face. He seriously looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"You say she was pregnant when she came to get you away from your dad?" he demanded, his voice wavering.
"Yeah, with Ada…" Then it hit her. She gasped audibly and her hand flew over her mouth. "Oh my God. Wait, how did you know Kate?" she asked, the pieces clicking together like cogs in a wheel. "Were you and her…? Are you Adam's…?"
He shrugged, clearly shaken. "Kate and I were together for a couple of weeks…" he offered. "Around Christmas."
"Adam was born September twenty ninth," she said quickly and there was a brief silence that followed in which they were both clearly doing the math.
He stood up. "I need to go see her," he said abruptly.
"I'm coming with you." She stood up also.
"No," he snapped before pursing his lips. "Look, sorry, it's just…" he gave her a deploring look. "Let me just figure this out. We could be wrong here; let me just talk to Kate and sort it out first."
Laney didn't argue, her mind still reeling. Kate had always told Adam she didn't know who his father was, just that he was a good man and travelled a lot and Laney had never put two and two together. She had, after all, only been ten and had never thought to ask how Kate knew John Winchester.
"Does she live in the same place?" he asked, grabbing his duffle. "Is she married?"
"She still lives at seventeen Beech Street and she's single," she stated simply.
And with that he was gone, his big, black car rumbling away, leaving her standing in the doorway of his motel room. She decided to head back to the bar and get her own car. She would let Kate sort this out with John Winchester but if it turned out he was Adam's father, then Adam was going to be getting the shock of a lifetime and no way her little brother was going through that without her.
~x~x~x~x~x~
It was a two and a half hour drive and Laney had spent the whole time swimming in memories she had hoped would stay buried forever and dreading how Adam was going to take this news. Couldn't the kid have found out his father was the local veterinarian or a stock broker or even a drug dealer who'd been in jail for the past eleven years? Why did it have to be a guy who hunted ghosts for a living? She hadn't been sure how she felt about John Winchester but she was leaning more and more towards resentment. For her sake and Adam's.
John was sitting in Kate's kitchen by the time she showed up, clearly having figured three-thirty AM was a perfectly normal time to show up demanding to know if you had an eleven-year-old son. He had about an hour's head start and it was evident that Kate had confirmed he was indeed Adam's father. Kate gave Laney a hug as she stepped inside and told her they had already broken the news to Adam and he was upstairs letting it soak in.
"He could probably use someone besides me to talk to right now," Kate hinted but Laney was already half way up the stairs.
The eleven-year-old was understandably wigging out. He had been asking more and more questions about his father recently but to have him suddenly show up at the door in the middle of the night was a bit overwhelming. He had only stayed downstairs for five minutes while his mom introduced him before making up an excuse and coming back up to his room to 'freak out in peace'.
Laney sat on the bed next to him and ruffled his hair. The fact that he didn't complain and slap her hand away was testament of just how bewildered the poor kid was. She sat with him for a half hour, letting him vent and express his apprehension and fears about the stranger downstairs. She realized now wasn't the time to add to the stress by telling him he had two brothers also and decided that was a conversation best left for another day. She headed downstairs to let Adam get some sleep after promising him she would be there tomorrow when 'Dad' (said by Adam with a definite eye-roll) came by to spend some time with him to get to know him.
She paused just outside the kitchen when she heard hushed conversation through the door.
"It was a good thing you gave her my number, John," Kate was saying. "I don't know how much longer she would have lasted if she hadn't gotten away and made that phone call. She was in the hospital for weeks afterwards. She was starving, malnourished, broken bones that hadn't healed right, cigarette burns all over her back, bruises everywhere. That animal had her locked in the closet for a month. You saved her life."
Laney gritted her teeth. John Winchester hadn't saved her life; he'd dumped her off back there to take the punishment that bastard was sure to dole out for running away. It was Kate who had saved her life. Kate and Dean. Kate for getting her out and fighting with authorities to keep her out and Dean for giving her the will to defy her father and make the phone call in the first place, for convincing her she didn't deserve that life and that she mattered.
She took a few steps back and thumped her feet a little harder on the floor, letting them know she was approaching and giving them time to change the topic of conversation. John stood up when she entered, flashing her a look of unmistakable guilt as he pulled his jacket back on.
"How's he taking it?" he asked, clearly referring to Adam
"He'll be fine," she said honestly. "He just needs to let it sink in before you start going all Daddy of the Year on him."
Her abrupt tone in that last part wasn't missed and his eyes darkened as he held her gaze. "Listen, Laney," he said. "Me and you still have a few things to discuss. Why don't we give Kate and Adam some privacy and go grab a bite to eat?"
Why did all his questions sound like orders? She bit her lip, not sure why he wanted to talk to her alone. "Fine," she said finally. "I'll meet you at the truck stop back up at the freeway." She gave Kate another hug. "See you guys later," she told her. She always stayed with Kate and Adam when she was back in town.
"Course," Kate smiled, kissing her cheek. "You gonna stay in town for a while?"
She knew her boss Brad wouldn't go for her taking the next few days off but she nodded anyway, trying not to think about how she was going to pay her rent if she got fired. "Course. Adam asked me to stay."
~x~x~x~x~x~
"Did you tell Adam about Sam and Dean?" John didn't beat around the bush. The question was popped before he had even slid into the seat across the table from her.
"No. Not yet."
"Well don't. There is no yet. I don't want him to know. Or Kate."
She scowled at him, not appreciating the bossy tone. "I don't really care what you want, John. They're Adam's brothers and he deserves to know about them. Not to mention they deserve to know about him."
He sighed, though it almost sounded like a growl. "Look, Laney, I can see you care about Adam and that's why I'm telling you not to tell him about Sam and Dean."
"Why?"
"Because it's not safe."
"Safe for who? You gonna tell me what's going on?"
The waitress came over just then and took their orders. When she had left, John sat back in his chair, eying Laney carefully. He had a habit of doing that and it was more than unnerving.
"What do you know about what I do?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I know you hunt monsters, like ghosts and demons and crap like that."
He nodded. "Yeah, I do. I'm a hunter and believe me, that's not a life to get an eleven-year-old mixed up in."
She snorted. "You didn't think that way with your other sons. Besides, are you saying you're gonna stay out of Adam's life? Coz that's not fair. I know he's all freaked out now but he's been asking about you a lot recently. For him to meet his dad and then think he doesn't care enough to come by every now and again isn't fair!" She was getting angry. He couldn't help her protective streak where Adam was concerned. "You'd better be around from time to time or he's gonna be devastated and I swear, if you hurt him I'm gonna frigging hunt you down and shoot some of that rock salt in your ass."
He stared at her for a moment, his expression hard to decipher. Then the corner of his mouth turned up in an amused smile. "You finished?"
She just gestured for him to say his piece.
"Look, what I do is dangerous, yes, but it's more than that. I'm known in certain supernatural circles. There are a hundred things out there that would love to give me a little payback and hurting my son would be a sure fire way to get at me."
Laney gasped. "Are you saying Adam's in danger?"
"No," he shook his head. "Because nobody knows he's my son. If you tell him about Sam and Dean, he's gonna want to meet them. Same if I told them about him. Sam and Dean are already in this mess. I screwed that up for them a long time ago. I don't want to make the same mistake with Adam. I want him to stay safe."
Laney was quiet for a long minute. "Are Sam and Dean not safe?" She couldn't help asking the question.
John shook his head. "No. This family's smack in the middle of a demon hornet's nest and it's only going to get worse. I've trained my boys to look out for themselves, to protect themselves, but they're in this for good. But Adam…" He lifted a shoulder in a rolled shrug to indicate that this wasn't the case for Adam. "I can keep the Adam off the demons' radar but only if you keep quiet about Sam and Dean."
"What if they find him anyway?" she asked, her heart beating rapidly in fear for the little boy she thought of as a brother. "What then?"
"They won't."
"But they could. What was going on in that parking lot? Were those guys demons? When you thought I was a witch, why did you ask what the demons had planned for your son? Which son?"
He rubbed a hand down across his face, giving her a weary look. "Okay. I'm gonna trust you with this. I made an arrangement through some people to meet a witch. I was going to give her an amulet that has power for her coven in exchange for information on some rumors I heard about the demons going after Sam for some reason. Obviously it was a set-up because those two men were demons."
"Are the demons planning to hurt Sam? For revenge against you?" She shook her head, not waiting for his answer. "You can't come around here," she told him bluntly. "You'll just put Adam in danger."
"Didn't you just say I couldn't ignore him now that he knows me?"
"Okay. You can come for his birthdays only. Say you work abroad or something."
He seemed to get some measure of amusement from her tone. He chuckled and she once again felt her resolve melting. She just couldn't get a fix on this man. He was damn fierce and scary as hell one moment but then he seemed almost kind the next. "I think that sounds like a plan," he agreed.
"And you teach me some stuff about ghosts and demons so I can keep my eye on him here," she added. "Just in case."
He snorted. "That's not gonna happen."
"Listen," she raised her voice slightly. "He's in danger because of you and since you can't be around, someone has to watch out for him. Someone's gotta make sure none of these things that want revenge against you get Adam instead."
"I'm his father. I'll deal with it."
Now it was her time to snort. "You don't know the first thing about being a father," she seethed.
She swore she could see the hair on the back of his neck bristling. "What's that supposed to mean?" he challenged.
"It means you're not getting any World's Greatest Dad mugs anytime soon." She figured she was going to regret her outburst but she was past the point of reining it in. She was normally quiet to the point of being thought of as strange but she had a fierce protective streak in her when it came to those she cared about and Adam and Kate were her only family as far as she was concerned. "See it's all clear now. When I ran away and was staying with Sam and Dean, you weren't out hunting. You weren't saving people like Dean thought; you were here, in Windom, playing house with some poor woman who probably thought you were gonna stick around afterwards. Meanwhile your kids were a half hour drive away, alone, on Christmas day! And you couldn't even be bothered to stop in and say Merry Christmas!"
She could see his jaw clenching and braced for an angry reply. Instead he spoke softly. "Is that what this is really about?" he said. "That why you been giving me the stink eye since I first saw you?"
"No," she huffed. "Not just that."
"What then?" he challenged. "Go ahead, Laney. Speak your mind. Don't hold back on my account."
She cracked. "Because you sent me back there!" she hissed. "Dean told you what he was like and you sent me back anyway."
He sighed and his next words didn't sound surprised. "I'm sorry," he said simply. "You told me your dad didn't hit you. If I had known…"
"You knew," she cut him off. "You just didn't listen. You were too busy looking out for yourself."
"So, you been hating me all these years then?'
Laney didn't answer but her silence was a deafening 'yes' as she held her gaze fixed out the window and off the man across from her.
"Can't say I blame you," he continued. "I have been known to screw up. God knows I've screwed up with my boys a thousand times, but…I am sorry."
She swallowed and turned to face him again. He sounded genuine. "Just don't screw up with Adam. He doesn't deserve that."
Their food was brought over and they ate in silence. When he balled his napkin up and pushed his plate away, he gave her another long, thoughtful look.
"You know, in that parking lot, when those demons attacked, you didn't hesitate. You shot that one twice without backing down."
He got a questioning look in return.
"That was pretty tough," he acknowledged. "Your tailing skills suck, and you didn't know how many rounds the shotgun had, but I suppose I could teach you the basics."
Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. The prospect was actually really exciting.
"Just enough so you know what to look for," he insisted. "So you know when to call me. I guess I would feel better knowing there's someone close by who knows a little something about what's really out there. Someone who thinks of Adam as family."
"He is my family," she said without hesitation.
~x~x~x~x~x~
Adam took the next few days off school and John spent every one of them getting to know his son. Every evening was spent teaching Laney the basics of hunting. He was strict and a total drill sergeant as he showed her weaponry, basic self-defence moves, and how to take down a bigger, stronger opponent, pushing her to her limit and not taking it easy on her one bit. She was almost ready to hate him every night as she dragged her bruised body to bed but then she would see him with Adam, taking him to ball games and on fishing trips. She would see the grin on Adam's face and she would change her mind all over again.
After that first day, he didn't talk much about anything personal, which suited Laney just fine as she wasn't big on sharing either. After a week had passed, he met her by his car and explained that he had to head back up to Minneapolis to meet Dean, who had wrapped up his hunt and would be showing up in a couple of days. That meant he had to leave now since he still had to track down and deal with the witch that had set him up in the parking lot and he wanted to do that before Dean showed up.
"I'm heading back too," she told him. "I told my boss it was a family emergency and he says I still have my job if I'm back by tonight."
He nodded and shuffled uncomfortably. "Look, Laney," he said finally. "You're good. I know I was hard on you but you've got good instincts, which is something I can't teach. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad Adam has you. I trust you and I think he'll be safe with you looking out for him." He extended his hand and gave her a firm handshake before pulling her in and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Just don't get any further into this life than you already are," he warned. "I don't want that for you. Please just call me if you notice anything strange. Take care of yourself, Laney." With that he got in his car, not looking back as he drove away.
~x~x~x~x~x~
Two days later, Laney was wiping the bar counter down when John came in and settled himself in the same back corner booth. She grinned at him as she finished taking another patron's order and finally headed over to him with a Budweiser on her tray.
"A Bud on the house," she greeted him, placing the bottle on the table. He nodded thanks and she was about to slide into the booth across from him when he shook his head, glancing pointedly behind her. She turned to see another man approaching and she straightened up right away. The man was young, mid twenties, green eyes, bit of stubble… and basically hot as hell.
"Hey Dad," the newcomer greeted John before he glanced over to look at Laney. "Well, hello," he said, voice smooth as honey, killer smile spreading across his face.
"Hi," was all she said, her heart hammering in her chest.
"And here I thought Minneapolis had nothing going for it," the young guy flirted, still smiling at her as he took a step closer.
"Dean, that's enough," John reprimanded sharply, getting to his feet. "We've got to get going."
"What? I just got here," Dean griped. "I just drove twelve hours. Surely we have time for … uh..." he leaned in closer as if to read her nametag even though his eyes never left hers, "...Laney here to bring me one beer."
"Get your ass outside," John ordered, shaking his head and barely managing to hide the smile forming on his lips at his son's antics. Dean groaned but turned around and John waited until his son was halfway back to the door before slipping Laney a piece of paper. "Just in case you're in trouble and you can't get a hold of me," he said quietly. "Don't use it unless you have to."
She nodded, her heart still going a mile a minute. Jeez, what was wrong with her? He was just some kid who had helped her out once. She watched them stroll out the front door, an unmistakably commanding and fearless air surrounding the pair of them, before unfolding the paper to find Dean's name and phone number.
Now she had a grown-up face to put with that of the little boy from her past. She just hadn't expected it to be such a damn attractive one.
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A/N: Okay, I know this chapter was a lot of set-up for the future plot and very little Dean but it was necessary and I thought you should get the backstory. Hopefully I did John justice and I promise next chapter, Laney and the brothers are thrown together in a very bad situation (takes place somewhere in season three) and sparks fly, though not the ones you might think. Please review! :)