Chapter 3
Several med techs came in with a stretcher and a backboard, strapped the still unconscious body of Jones down with consideration to the possibility of a back injury and carried him away. Davies went with them to make sure Jones was tended with all possible skill available.
Henriksen paced around the demon, giving the invisible devil's trap a wide berth so as not to accidentally break it. He placed chairs in a perimeter to prevent anyone else from stepping to close either. Wouldn't do to let their guest out prematurely. He had many questions to be answered before the Senator was to be freed of his curse.
The demon looked at Henriksen with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean, Nancy sends her regards? Nancy is DEAD! I personally watched her soul leave her body."
"Wow, never thought I would meet a demon that didn't believe in the supernatural. That's almost as bizarre as an atheist priest. Think it through Smokey, violent death. You do the math."
"But her body was incinerated by Lilith. No remains means no ties to this realm so she can't be a ghost."
"Be that as it may, we have much more pressing business to discuss."
At that point the intercom squealed and announced that the shipment that Henriksen had been waiting for had arrived. Henriksen pressed the respond button on the wall and said to the room "Please have those placed outside the door of the classroom. Also have a team investigate the path from the entrance to the door of the classroom. We have a demon in our…custody, and I would really like to know what kind of traces it might have left on its way in. Look for any traces of sulfur but don't rule out anything out of the ordinary."
"Well speak of the devil, so to speak" said Henriksen. "Our conversation piece is right on time."
A few minutes later Jenkins came walking into the classroom with an armload of comb bound manuals. "So what is so special about a stack of government manuals not even important enough to put in hardback?" asked Jenkins.
"First of all, time was an issue. Second of all, what we study will probably never end up in an official government book, too hard to explain. As to what is so special about them." Henriksen turned to face the demon. "They are copies of the Hunting Journal of one John Winchester."
Everyone looked at him with a confused look on they're faces. Everyone except the demon, whose expression had gone from somewhat cocky to extremely nervous. "Ok" said Jenkins. "I have no idea who you are talking about but Smokey's reaction makes it very obvious that he does. You have my interest."
"Mine as well" said Cooper. "Anything that can make a demon nervous is probably a good thing for us."
Slim and Davies came walking into the room about that time looking very concerned and confused. "Ok, what did we miss?" asked Davies.
"Apparently we just received copies of a book that makes demons nervous" said Jenkins as he thumbed through the book. "And I can only assume that someone here can make more sense of it than I can."
"How did you get your hands on that book?" demanded the demon. "Hunters guard their journals like they were made of gold!"
"Well," said Henriksen, "one of the easiest ways to protect their journals is to keep them on their person. They do have the occasional run ins with law enforcement and when that happens sometimes there is an officer who is either savvy or confused enough that he sends the journal up the food chain. In this case, John left his journal in a motel room in California for his sons to find. Fortunately for us the police found it first and with Feds already in the area, copies were sent to the Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico for study due to the Satanic overtones. Now we have work to do as well as other people who need us to get out of their way."
Henriksen ushered his team out of the room as the team sent to examine the demons trail into the classroom approached the door. As he closed the door he saw the team setting up around the perimeter of the devils trap. They had strict orders not to breach the trap but he was a bit concerned about whether or not they would take the order seriously. Its always easier to disobey an order you don't really believe in. Well, its not like he can stand guard all day. Hopefully at least one of them has first hand experience and will keep the others on their toes.
He dismissed everyone back to their living quarters with orders to study the journal thoroughly but to save any questions till later. He hadn't had a chance to look it over himself so had no clue what was in it other than what he had already figured out or been told about the Winchesters. After reading the journal several times he called it a night. It would take several weeks of study to understand so there was no point in trying to absorb it all in one night. He had plenty of time to learn what he needed to combat demons.
"Wake up sleepyhead!" said Davies, her head the only part of her visible as she peered in Henriksen's door. "We have VIP's in the building and they want to meet with us post haste.
Henriksen mumbled something incoherent and not terribly polite as he dragged himself out of bed. Sleep had been elusive and what little he had gotten had been infested with bad dreams. Dreams that included all types of nightmare creatures including Wendigo, shape shifters, vampires, vengeful spirits, and lets not forget the front-runner, demons. He showered and dressed as quickly as possible and headed for the conference room.
Davies was obviously the first of his team there as she had woke him up. Henriksen had noticed the rest of the team in various states of readiness as he walked by their living quarters. Privacy was definitely NOT high on the agenda when they built this place. The only other person in the room besides Davies when he walked in was a man in his early to mid sixties who could have been SA Jones's older brother or father. No real family resemblance, just similar builds, haircuts, and bearing.
As Henriksen opened his mouth to say something the man quickly interrupted him. "All things in there time Mr. Henriksen. I prefer not to repeat myself so would appreciate it if you would curtail any further questions from you and your team until after I have spoken my peace to everyone please."
Polite, precise, and very used to being obeyed without question. Somebody much higher up the food chain no doubt. Wouldn't do to start off by antagonizing him so Henriksen simply nodded his acknowledgement and stepped back outside to get some coffee and make sure no one else decided to question their guest prematurely.
After everyone had filtered into the room, coffee and whatever portable breakfast items could be found in hand, the mystery guest wasted no time.
"I know you are all curious as to who I am and what is going on. Rest assured I will answer whatever questions I can after I have updated you all on what is going on." he stated.
Everyone took their seats and waited expectantly. "First of all, my name is Deputy Director Harbaugh of the NSA. SA Jones and I have been friends for a long time and his assistant informed me of his "accident" immediately after it happened. I am fully aware of what happened, and I do mean fully aware. I have already met with the, well the demon possessing the senator in the classroom. We have already reported the senator's death to the public as it is our belief that he has been dead for some time. SA Jones has spoken with me several times about his little side project here, trying to get me on board with it. For reasons I'm quite certain you can all understand, I was skeptical. Now I'm not. Effective immediately this agency is under the direct control of the NSA as are you all."
This had the effect of outbursts around the room, not only from Henriksen's team members but from those staff members who had been requested to come as well. Most were concerned about their employment status as power shifts in the government traditionally went hand in hand with re-staffing. The team was concerned immediate issues. Would they survive, quite literally, this power shift and would the mission change, making their reasons for joining moot.
Director Harbaugh allowed the clamor to go on for a minute or two then spoke in a very firm but loud voice, "This will NOT affect anything that has happened thus far. The only changes that will occur will be who pays the bills and whom the paper work goes to. I have complete faith in SA Jones's ability to run this place effectively and see no need to second-guess any decisions he has made thus far. What it does mean is that this unit will have access to better resources, as SA Jones no longer has to beg and plead for funding based on false information and favors. Speaking of which."
At that point a tech that none of them had seen before came in and handed Harbaugh a clipboard. Harbaugh looked the information over on the clipboard then passed it back, excusing the tech. What little grumbling and discussion had been going on promptly ceased.
"Finally, some good news." said Harbaugh.
"Please enlighten us." Said Henriksen.
"Well first and foremost, SA Jones is conscious and appears to be well on the road to a full recovery. Nice to have verification on your intel Mr. Henriksen." said Harbaugh.
"Nice to be vindicated Deputy Director. He didn't appear to be a med tech so I am guessing there is some news about our visitor as well?" asked Henriksen.
"Good guess. Yes, there is some intriguing information about our visitor. He leaves a trace of sulfur on surfaces he touches which you already knew Mr. Henriksen. What you may not be aware of is that sulfur trail is detectable by chemical scanners like those employed at airports and prisons for detection of drugs. He also runs hotter than an un-possessed human being, around 100 degrees Fahrenheit under normal circumstances and spiking upwards of 104 degrees when, for a lack of a better way to put it, exerting itself. This temperature is detectable by use of simple infrared sensors. Obviously just because someone is running a bit warm it doesn't mean they are possessed, but it does help us at least a little bit. Hopefully more information will be forthcoming as we continue our studies. At this point do I have any questions?"
It was obvious that several people wished to say something at that point but were still unsure enough of their status that they chose discretion.
"Fair enough," said Harbaugh. I will be around for at least a week as I finalize all the necessary paperwork and to make sure SA Jones is well taken care of so if anyone does have a question that they don't feel like voicing publicly, I do maintain an open door policy. Just don't ask about pay raises. That issue will come up once this department has proven its usefulness in the field. Your studies will continue in another classroom starting tomorrow. We have all had a rough time the last day or so, please take this time to catch up on your rest. I can only assume that you didn't sleep any better than I did last night after reading that journal. Its always disturbing to find out how little we truly know."
Classes continued in a classroom down the hall the next day. Their focus was on the contents of the journal, specifically the differences between the exorcisms they have been studying and the ones he was using in the field. Not a bad idea to shave a little time off of the rituals being used and these have been tested under fire.
SA Jones was recovered well enough to receive visitors after a few days and every team member made it a point to visit him. It would be several weeks, but he would make a full recovery as Henriksen had said. Right after he started receiving visitors he also started running things again from his bed, much to the chagrin of his doctors. Six days after his injuries, SA Jones called the team into his room for a meeting.
"Ok boys and girls" said SA Jones "its time for a bit of hands on training. First thing tomorrow you are going to exorcise the demon in the senator and send it back to Hell."