Angel With A Shotgun
Chapter 7
-Show and tell-
Then-
"As much fun as this is, I have somewhere to be." An ominous cloud of black smoke poured out and Ichigo let the abandoned body fall bonelessly. Never noticing the cloud enter an old woman across the street.
Ichigo ran into the motel, he didn't bother knocking once he found the room and opted for the more expedient method. Kicking the door off its hinges.
"We have problem!"
Now-
The shot echoed loudly, followed by unsettling silence from the three hunters staring dumbly at the young man who had somehow managed to literally dodge a bullet.
Ichigo stood motionless, black and gold eyes wide in shock. The only thing that had saved his gigai from receiving a hole between its eyes was the fact that he had been running high on instinct – not to mention his years of fighting experience.
Still, he knew he was lucky for having acted so foolishly.
Breaking doors down and shouting in a foreign language thus startling three tense Hunters was not the best way to introduce yourself; in fact it was the perfect way to get shot.
He doubted it would have actually done anything to his spirit form but it was not a feeling he was willing to experience anytime soon.
A tall man Ichigo didn't recognise aimed to take a second shot and the previously silent room erupted in noise and chaos. There was a lot of shouting; the two men Ichigo knew were struggling with who he now assumed must be the youngest Winchester -since the name Sammy was the only thing he could make out in the cacophony before him. He'd realised shortly after meeting Dean that Sammy was what he called his little brother.
Ichigo very briefly felt a surge of smugness since he'd obviously managed to pull off locating Samuel. Unfortunately it seemed his introduction to the younger brother was as disastrous as it could have been.
"The hell is wrong with you!" Dean turned towards Ichigo, his mind reeling at how quickly things had gone from bad to good to awful, not to mention how quickly the kid had dodged Sam's shot. The creepy eyes which were slowly receding to normal didn't help at all either. Words were going to be had.
"I'm sorry but we have a problem." Ichigo explained, not sound sorry at all. With two hostile encounters in such a short period of time he was still feeling his Hollow close to the surface and was struggling to rein it in.
"Is this what you meant by serious shit you gotta talk to me about Dean?" Sam cut in, giving the orange haired youth a careful look. He knew his shot hadn't missed, nothing human could have dodged that bullet. What could have happened that Dean, of all people, would have brought a creature along with him. "Is he demon? Is that how you got out?"
"What? No! Sammy the only good demon is dead demon!" Dean bit out bitterly. Sam couldn't help but wince inwardly.
"Boys, I think we should take this show and tell on the road. Something's got Lassie spooked so let's not wait for this to bite us in the ass. GIT!" Bobby growled, pushing the Winchester boys towards the exit – 'cause it wasn't really a door anymore now was it.
Ichigo gave the elder man a grateful nod, ignoring the nickname, they had to leave this town or at the very least the motel. Now that he'd had a run in with what he suspected was most likely a demon, he could feel similar beings all over the place.
"Fine, Sammy I swear I'll explain but we'll do it somewhere else." Dean clasped his brother on the shoulder, stepping in front of Sam but stopping briefly at the Reaper's side. "And you! You had better have a damn good explanation for this." He pointed at the splintered remains of the door as he stepped out into the hallway to make his way down.
Ichigo glared at Dean's back all the while motioning for the other two to move ahead of him. "I have a job to do."
Dean flipped him the bird as he rounded the corner. "Don't care!"
"Are they always like this?" Sam asked Bobby despite his misgivings but the old Hunter only gave a snort in response. It seemed he would have to wait to get any real answers. "Right."
He hoped Ruby was alright.
Once in the parking lot it had been decided –Bobby had barked orders before getting in his truck- that Dean, Sam and Ichigo would ride the impala out of town to the closest motel where they would rest for the night and head back to Bobby's in the morning. That way Sam would be able to get caught up and Bobby would get some peace and quiet.
Ichigo looked on with a bewildered expression as Dean fussed over the sleek black car. He admitted it was nice to look at but the way the Hunter lovingly inspected and spoke to the vehicle bordered a bit too much on the perverse side for his liking.
"Ghost Boy, in the back." Dean called out as he stepped into the driver's side.
Ichigo glared but stepped into the car anyway. He did make sure to slam the door shut harder than necessary. When Dean turned his head to give him a dirty look, he ignored it, along with the discontent mumbling the elder Winchester was stringing out. He just wanted to leave this place, re-group his thoughts and maybe –hopefully, get some rest. But the rest was unlikely to happen anytime soon, since at the very least, he and Dean would have to explain things to Samuel.
Ichigo closed his eyes, ignoring the argument that had just broken out between the brothers. From what he could make out of it, Dean was pissed about his little brother's upgrade to car's stereo system.
He opted instead to concentrate on Samuel's reiatsu. The younger –not to mention much taller- Winchester was definitely a Fullbringer. He'd spent enough time during the Quincy war and the month afterwards around the few that had joined them to get a good feel for them despite the differences in their powers.
He knew he'd need help with this though, he didn't even bother trying to entertain the notion that he could teach Samuel about what being a Fullbringer was about. He didn't think he had the right knowledge or the patience, not to mention between his orders to protect the Winchesters and prevent the seals from being opened, it would be a difficult task to achieve on his own. And shit, he still had no idea how any of that was supposed to work.
He groaned.
"So…" Sam broke Ichigo out of his increasingly complicated thoughts.
"Shit, fine. We'll do this now so that way I might actually get some freaking sleep when we get the motel." Dean crumbled as he turned off the stereo. "Ghost boy, you start."
Ichigo didn't miss the shit eater grin Dean shot at him through the rear view mirror. Damn Bastard was gonna leave all the explanation to him.
He started from the beginning, well, from where he was actually allowed too anyway. What he was, Dean's resurrection and his still unknown destiny, Ichigo's mission to protect them and that he would hopefully get more information and/or orders soon.
During the entire story Ichigo could see Samuel was itching to ask questions, there was an excitement and thirst for knowledge that was thrumming in Winchester's eyes. But there was also the wariness of someone who'd been burned too many times to be able to trust outright.
"For real?" Sam finally spoke, the questioned aimed at Dean.
"Yup. Well as far as we can tell anyway. Bobby checked it out already…" Dean took a deep breath, taking a moment to center himself. He finally had Sammy back. Sitting right there in the passenger seat like he was meant to be. Despite how screwed up everything had been since he'd been plucked out of Hell, seeing his little brother made Dean feel like this wasn't all just a dream and he was really back up on dirt side.
And thinking about screwed; he shot a glare at the Reaper. There was still a lot of talking to do, like what the hell that had all been about back at the motel. And they still had to figure out if Sam was whatever the heck Ghost boy thought he was.
"Now that everyone knows everyone else. You've got some explaining to do about your little show back at the motel." Dean kept his eyes on the road yet his fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
"There was woman," Ichigo growled at Dean's derisive snort, "She did not know I was there… I am not sure what she was but her soul." He paused, struggling with his Hollow. If demons caused such a visceral reaction from him and he didn't get a hold on it quickly it would be a major problem. "Her soul was foul. I have fought many beings Winchester but none felt as wrong as this one."
Dean's anger shifted from the reaper to what he was sure was demon. A demon had been near Sam and they hadn't noticed.
Sam had stiffened, the look of pure revulsion across both his brother's and the Reaper's face was undeniable. He feared for Ruby. It wasn't her fault, what she was. She was trying to help him, to help Dean, she wanted to get rid of Lilith just as much as they did. But he couldn't risk exposing her so he remained quiet and knew that the look of concern on his face would be mistaken for something else.
"Did you kill it?" Dean bit out.
"No. I caught her, injured the body… but a black cloud escaped before I could anything else." This was the part Ichigo hated the most about this whole thing. He didn't know enough about what he would be facing. He'd matured enough over the last few years to learn that he couldn't just keep charging in like he used to, besides he had two people in his charge. "Was she a demon?" Needing to confirm his suspicions.
"Ya. Fuckers possess some poor sap, ride the meat suit to the ground and jump ship like a bunch of fucking rats on a burning boat the minute things go south. Fucking cowards." Dean's hatred weighed heavily throughout his tirade.
"Can you kill them?" Ichigo asked sincerely. Though his Hollow was more in favor of devouring them, he didn't think he could bring himself do that. He needed to know how to defeat these demons, he wouldn't be able to protect the Winchesters otherwise.
"It's not easy," It was Sam who spoke much to the other two's surprise. "If you don't have the right weapon for the job than an exorcism is the best you can do. It sends them back to Hell but it doesn't kill them."
Ichigo only nodded in thanks. By the sounds of it his zanpakuto would work after all but for that to work he'd probably have to catch the demon while it was in its cloud form. The idea that he'd have to tear some innocent soul apart to get to the demon enraged him.
What the hell was Soul Society doing letting these things run around unchecked! He'd be putting in a call to Shunsui really soon. And where the hell was this Castiel prick!
"If I can't kill them my way, you'll have to teach me yours." Dean started at the reaper's statement but was pleased. The fact that Ghost boy had so far done well on his end of things; he'd found Sammy and hadn't sat on his ass when a demon had showed up. The kid may not have been able to kill but whatever he'd done had been enough to scare it out of its meats suit. Now he was admitting that he didn't know everything and was willing to learn from them. Dean was feeling a bit better about this whole 'reaper bodyguard' deal.
"You bet your reaper ass we are!" There was no way Dean was running around chasing these bastards with someone who didn't know what they were doing. It didn't matter how imposing or how good Ichigo was with those freaky swords of his, if the kid was gonna insist on tagging along he'd have to learn how to do things his way.
The rest of the ride to the motel was quiet. Each occupant of the car keeping their thoughts to themselves, it was a relaxing sort of silence. No one seemed to feel the need to chatter needlessly.
Sam assumed Dean and the reaper, Ichigo, were letting him absorb all the new information, which he was grateful for. It was indeed a lot to take in but he also got the feeling there was more going on. He knew his brother well enough to know Dean wanted to talk about something yet at the same time truly didn't. He didn't know Ichigo at all, having just met him but it was pretty obvious the reaper had a lot on his mind and wanted to be left alone. For now he would let it be. Give everyone time to cool off, rest; food wouldn't be a bad idea either. He could get Dean some pie.
Sam smiled at the thought and cast a glance at his brother. It would probably feel unreal for a while, to have him back alive and well. He had his brother back and he was grateful for whatever part Ichigo had had to play in that.
Did the reaper need to eat? God there were so many questions.
Author's Note: Wow, it has been so long since I've updated this fic, and I'm so so sorry. It's a bit shorter than the others have been but this one gave me a really hard time. Hopefully it'll be satisfactory, especially for all of you who have been patiently waiting for this.
Thanks so much to all who've fav'ed, followed and reviewed and for sticking along with this despite the horribly long wait.
