Chapter 2: Re-acquaintance
Lily Winchester laughed as little Jessica giggled, spraying her food everywhere, before sighing and looking at the clock. Sam had said he would ring before nine. It was quarter past, and she was getting worried. It wasn't enough that Caleb was a little sick and irritable, but now her husband was forgetting his duties. Or so she hoped.
Little had she realized yet that in her world, their world, the hunter's world, hope was unfounded. It only ever got you killed.
At nine-thirty she was seriously considering calling Sam. Normally the idea wouldn't even cross her mind, knowing Sam could look after himself. And failing that, Dean would look after Sam for her. But Sam had seemed uneasy before leaving, kissing her long and hard, nearly refusing to let go of Jess or Caleb. As if he knew something was about to go horribly wrong.
She jumped, dropping her glass of wine over the carpet, as the phone rang. Swearing out loud – she only ever did it when the kids were in bed – she raced to the kitchen to get a cloth, knowing the deep red would stain the carpet. She would let the machine get the phone.
It clicked and she couldn't help but pause, hand tightening on the cloth as the choked voice of her brother-in-law came over the line.
"Lily, it's Dean."
Her breath caught, and she let the cloth drop, pausing half way to the couch where the wine stain was spreading.
"Lily, ah… Jesus…"
Her knees wobbled and she leaned over, clutching onto the lamp beside the couch as she heard his voice break. Dean Winchester's voice broke and she knew something had gone worse than terribly wrong. No, no, no…
"Lily, it's Sam. He's… ah… fucking hell. He's…"
She realized she couldn't breathe and let her legs collapse, folding underneath her as she sat heavily, tears springing to her eyes.
"Lily, it's Sammy," Dean tried again, his voice crackling over a bad line. "Uh, the job really went south. We… I thought it was a poltergeist. The EMF even picked it up, but…"
She was shaking now, tears running silently down her face. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be. Sam couldn't be…
"But, ah, dammit. Sammy said there was nothing there, and I should've listened, but the EMF…"
Her face turned into a snarl, and before she knew it she had grabbed the now empty glass and thrown it across the room where it crashed into the wall. Like her heart, it shattered into a million pieces.
"It was a trap, Lily. A, ah… a trap for Sam. A trap for Sam." As if to hurt her twice as hard, he said it once for the news and two for the betrayal seeping through both their hearts. "And, Jesus, they got him. They fucking got him -." She didn't hear the next as she let out a sob, grabbing into the couch, using it to hold herself up, leaning into it. "No sign of Sammy."
He broke with her, and his tears were easily heard over the machine, ripping a hole in her heart that was no longer there. Because if Dean had given up hope on his brother, than there was none.
"Lily," the man sobbed, breaking off.
"You fucking asshole!" She screamed at the machine, using the pause to take out her anger. "You promised, you said you'd look after him! You bastard, you fucking liar, you fucking promised!"
"Lily, God, I am so sorry," he sobbed, as if answering her screams. "I… fucking hell, I wish…" He broke off into sobs again and she cried with him, sobbing, holding onto nothing because there was nothing left to hold onto.
"Lily, I… I am so sorry." Like she cared. She felt the bitter resentment seep through her as thick and fast as her tears of loss were falling. "I'll never stop looking, I swear. One day, I'll… I'll find him, I swear to God. But… Fuck, I have no idea… I'm sorry."
The machine clicked and silence shattered the house. Lily gave another sob, flailing for something to keep her in this world. Dean's final words enraged her very heart.
I'll find him…
Looking up and seeing Jessica staring down solemnly at her, her heart and mind hardened, stopping the flow of tears and letting sheer determination hold her to her family. And she whispered…
"Not if I find him first."
From a distance, you never would have guessed the bar was only newly restored. Okay, so newly was an exaggeration. But after Harvelle's Roadhouse had been destroyed seventeen years ago, nearly every hunter in the country had pitched in one way or another to see the bar rise from the ashes once more, burdened with the new name, Hunter's Rest, an everlasting memory to demon's wrath and a massive lose of life so important to more than the then-coming war.
Even Dean and Sam had helped out, in their time out from the war that had started not long after Dean and Bobby had despaired over Ash's charred corpse. When certain other hunters weren't there. And it had risen, bright and shiny, and slightly unreal. But now it still looked as dirty and rundown as it had the first time Dean had laid eyes on it, and he was glad of it. It was a memorial to fallen warriors, and warriors weren't bright, shiny toys. And it was still a meeting point and gathering place for hunters across America.
Parking the car out the front of the otherwise abandoned roadhouse, Dean sighed and shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't been here in years. A decade, in fact, not since he had been in his thirties. Now that made him feel old, and he shifted again.
Looking over at the bar, he wondered if they had spotted and remembered the car already. Shifting slightly, he leaned across and gave Jess a shake. She jumped awake, and her sudden cry woke Caleb where he slept in the backseat. They both looked around, and spied Hunter's Rest.
"We're here," Dean told them, though he knew it wasn't needed. They both obviously recognised the premises. He opened the door, and Sam's kids followed suit.
Seconds later his feet were tapping across the front porch, and his hand was reaching for the handle. But he hadn't reached it before the door burst open and a small boy, maybe seven or eight years old sprang from within the building, almost colliding with Dean as he raced away from the Rest.
An elderly woman was following him out, angry or frustrated, Dean had never been able to tell with Ellen. But she gave a gasp before she could call after the boy, pausing and eyes going wide as she took in the three on her door step.
"Dean Winchester, I don't believe it!"
Dean gave a frown at the woman, cocking his head. She had aged since he last saw her, her once blonde hair greying, nearly silver. But her eyes were piercing, young, and at the moment, stunned.
"Hey, Ellen," Dean greeted, unsure what to make of this. "Can we come in?"
The older woman seemed to see Jess and Cal for the first time, and her face fell. "Oh, kids, I'm so sorry," she breathed, shaking her head. "If I'd known what that bastard was up to… come in, please."
She stepped back, apparently forgetting the kid, and Dean walked in, shrugging out of his jacket. The interior was a lot better kept than the outside, wooden wall panels, a homey feeling, despite the lingering stench of cigarette and alcohol. And the various weapons placed as trophies and adornments on the walls, of course. He also didn't fail to notice the salt, lining each window, each door.
Ellen led them through to the bar, where Dean was slightly surprised to find Jo, staring at him with something close to horrified relief.
"Dean?" She began, before her mother cut her off with a look.
Jo pulled out five mugs instead of continuing, filling two with lemonade, and the other three with beer. Then, with the silence pressing in on them all, they all sat down. Ellen sighed.
"I am so sorry…" she told Jess and Cal softly. The boy looked away, trying not to cry again. But Ellen stared gently down at them, and it seemed to help Jess. "JD, what happened?"
Before Dean had time to wonder at everyone calling his niece by her initials, the teenager launched into the story. Dean had heard it the night before, but he still listened carefully.
"When Mum got your call, we left for Colorado straight away," she mumbled, glancing quickly down to her mug. "It didn't take us long to get there, just over a day. Mum booked us a motel room, and left to find Kris Lane immediately. She… she wasn't gone long when I got a phone call, saying Lane was going to betray Mum. I don't know who, and I don't know how," she put in, forestalling Jo's question, same as she had Dean's. "But she did, and she told me I had to get there immediately. I believed her, and she was right."
She gave a small choke, tearing up. "I grabbed Cal, stole a car… we raced out to where they were meeting… but… but we didn't get there in time.
"We never saw Lane. He had gone by the time we got there, under the cover of night. But we saw the demon, just as it… just as it swiped at Mum. She screamed… it was so loud…" She trailed off into shivers, and somehow Caleb took up the story.
The kid looked around, his eyes red. "We raced out, shot the demon. It didn't do anything. I ran to Mum, JD ran to face the demon. It slashed her, and JD fell. I ran to JD, grabbed her gun… but before I could do anything, the demon shrieked, and when I looked up, it was gone. It was just us."
JD looked back up, tears leaking silently. "I crawled to Mum, she was still alive… I… Not for long, she wasn't. We held her… she didn't even know we were there though. She just coughed… and gurgled… and then she died."
Cal gave a sniffle, and JD grabbed him, giving her little brother a tight hug. Dean knew they had both finally realized. Realized that their mum wasn't coming back, that she was dead, that she would never speak to them, hug them, kiss them goodnight and promise everything was going to be okay. The night before they had both been in shock. This morning, they had both slept, catching up on some much needed rest. Now, now there was nothing to hide the truth. Cal buried his head in his sister and Dean couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the unfamiliar sight.
Sensing it, Jo moved from behind the bar and took the kids by the small of their backs, taking them somewhere to grieve in peace. Dean turned to Ellen, unable to keep his anger down anymore.
"So they came to you?" Ellen asked softly before Dean could speak. It was loud enough to cover the sounds coming from the back room. Dean nodded, refusing to look away from the older woman's eyes.
"Broke into my house last night. Not sure how they knew where to find me." He gritted his teeth, blood bubbling with fury. "Obviously not from you, Ellen, considering you apparently didn't know where I was, or how to contact me. Why didn't you tell me you had a lead on Sam!"
Ellen sighed and rubbed her eyes, suddenly looking her age. Dean ruthlessly ignored it. "Dean, look -."
The younger hunter cut her off with a snap. "No, Ellen, no excuse. You didn't tell me! Me! You know I've been looking for Sam for the past twelve years, you know I never stopped searching! And you didn't bother to call me when someone came through with a lead?"
Ellen stood, angry herself now. "No, Dean, I didn't. She's his wife, Dean!"
"And I'm his brother!" Dean yelled, losing control and smashing his fist down on the bar. "Dammit, you know what I was like when… when… I've never been a bigger mess, never Ellen! It should have been me there!"
Ellen looked through to the backroom, where the sobs had stopped, and both hunters knew the kids and Jo were listening. Dean found he didn't care.
"Dean, look," the woman began in a low voice. "A, Lily wouldn't have wanted you there, and if I had called you, no doubt it would be you dead. And no one would know. B… I thought you were dead."
This made Dean stop. "What? You'd heard I was dead? Who the hell told you that?"
"C'mon, Dean, you disappeared. Right off the radar, better than even your daddy ever did. I haven't heard from you in almost three years, haven't seen you in longer. I got a call from another hunter, said he'd heard you were dead. Not someone you know. John always did hide you from the hunting world."
Dean rubbed his face, turning away from the bar. "Jesus, I had no idea. I mean, you were getting nowhere with Sam, even with all your contacts. I decided I'd have to do it myself… I can't believe someone told you I was dead."
Ellen shrugged. "Well, believe it. I didn't have anything to tell me different. No one had seen you for years, I tried your number…"
Dean shook his head. "My phone was destroyed, hunting a water spirit in Illinois." He took a seat. "Sorry, I didn't realize I had cut myself off." A sudden thought occurred to him, and he turned his gaze to Ellen. "Would you have called me if you'd known where I was?"
The woman shrugged. "I don't know. Would have depended on Lily, I guess. Don't waste your thoughts on it, Dean. What's done is done and what is never going to pass isn't going to destroy us."
It was one of her favourite sayings, and Dean gave a small grin as he remembered hearing that for the first time, though then it had been his father's words. The first time he had let something get past him and get Sam. Though then, there had been a stern, 'do better next time' on the end, and a long lecture at the start. His grin dropped and he rubbed his eyes.
"So, did this guy really have a lead? On Sam, I mean?" he asked. Ellen shrugged.
"I don't know. I'll tell you what I told Lily…" She trailed off as JD and Cal came into the room, eyes red and faces bright. But neither of them were crying anymore. Jo had disappeared, maybe to look for the boy that had to be her son. Sam's kids sat down heavily on bar stools, and remained silent. Ellen seemed to understand that they were going to be a part of this and continued.
"I got this call from this hunter, Kris Lane. Used to travel around, but since a spirit broke his hip he's gone to ground in Colorado. Anyway, he was at this bar, about a week back now. And he saw this guy hustling pool. The men he was playing, they got angry, attacked him… and he took three of them out. Apparently one's still unconscious in the hospital, in a coma."
Dean's stomach dropped, and his mind began rebelling. No way Sammy would do anything like that, he was always careful, he knew his strength. Unless he wasn't Sam anymore… He tuned back into Ellen's voice.
"Anyway, Lane thought he recognised this guy. Said he'd be about Sam's age, same kind of look… same fighting style as John had always had. He called me, and I… I called Lily."
Again Dean's stomach dropped, and he looked away. It still didn't mean it was Sam. It wasn't like John's fighting style had been incredibly unique.
"Any other reason why he thought this guy was Sam?" Dean asked, refusing to allow his voice to crack. Ellen shook her head.
"None that he told me. But he said there were stories, as well, that had been cropping up in the last couple of years. Stories coming from around Colorado, and the closer they got to the mountains, the newer they were. Stories of a man saving someone from something… unexplainable."
"A hunter?" Dean demanded, sitting up straighter. Ellen nodded.
"Only, it's one who… no one's ever met him. That we can find. I've been looking into it, for longer than since Lane saw this man he thinks is Sam. No one's claimed responsibility, no one's seen him that can say what he looks like… just that he saves their lives and disappears."
Dean sat back, breathing deeply. That was sounding more like Sam. All too willing to risk his neck to save someone else and just as unwilling to accept the gratitude behind it.
"Do you really think this phantom hunter's Dad?" Jess asked. Cal was staring at the two adults with wide eyes. Ellen shrugged, but it was Dean who spoke.
"We're going to find out," he promised in a hard voice.
A/N: