Henry was feeling rather uneasy about this.
It wasn't because he was allied with two strange hunters and a freaking angel to take down the most powerful creatures that have ever roamed the Earth, although it was definitely something to be concerned over. No, he was uneasy about the fact that Shawn was about to charge head on into this situation without even beginning to understand it. And he knew now there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had always made a point of keeping him out of the hunter's life. The closest thing to hunting lessons he had ever done with Shawn was teaching him how to shoot a gun, which, he had made a point of saying, he always kept loaded with rock-salt bullets. What good was that going to do him against the leviathan race?
He was snapped out of his train of thought when he heard Shawn yelling from the entrance of the tunnel. He was having a "vision," meaning that he had discovered the tunnel. And they still hadn't found the torch.
"We need to hurry. If we don't find that torch within the next minute this tunnel will be flooded with officers."
"Duly noted," remarked Dean. "Look, a light. That's it."
Dean ran for it, but it was too late. Shawn had opened the passage door...and by the sounds of it fell down the slope. The clerk had not been kidding when he said it got steep quick. Luckily enough, Dean grabbed and lifted the torch before anyone else could enter. The door was resealed before Lassiter and Jules could shout Shawn's name, and they barely heard the commissioner's cry to freeze.
They ran back to help Shawn up. Other than a few scrapes (which Henry knew he was going to whine about) he was fine. Physically, at least. Henry thought about how he was going to take this whole thing of working with the Winchesters. And then about his reaction to hunting.
This wasn't going to be good.
Shawn saw Henry first. To say he was relieved would be an understatement; when your father turns out to be ok after being held by freaking serial killers its freaking fantastic. He must have used the passage to escape or something.
His joy, however, was quickly turned to worry and anger when he saw who ran behind him. The Winchesters and the trench-coat dude. The weirdest part was that they did not seem to bothered by the fact that their hostage was free. Glancing at Henry's wrists, there wasn't even any sign of him being bound in the first place.
"What the hell?!" was all he could manage.
Henry took a long breath. "Son, there is a very long story behind all of this, one that maybe I should have told you a long time ago-"
"No." Sam cut him off. "You were right not to raise him like that."
"I could have at least made him aware."
Trench-coat man intervened. "Henry, if you had attempted an explanation your son would have either thought you had gone mad or followed your footsteps as a hunter. From what I have seen during my time on Earth is that there is never a middle ground."
"Cas, easy with the 'time-on-Earth' stuff. We gotta keep in mind he ain't in on all this shit."
Shawn had had enough. "All of you shut up." It had been a long time since he was truly angry, but this did it. He turned to his father. "Dad, you cannot seriously have anything to do with these guys. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHO THEY ARE? And what the hell is this 'hunting' crap? You're all acting like they do in that book series with all the drawings and hunts and whatever the crap else." Shawn tried to yell more but his throat had gone hoarse.
Henry opened his mouth pathetically to say something, anything, but nothing came out. How do you tell your kid about what's really going bump in the night?
Sam was the one to break the silence. "Look Shawn, I get that you're a little freaked out right now. But, ugh, how do I say this..."
"What my brother is trying to say is that what happened down at the factory was not caused by anything human. Come on, the head-shot wounds that weren't fatal? The tattered bodies? The..." he glanced at Cas (his boyfriend? Both seemed to take a protective stance over the other in a gentle sort of manner) uncertainly, "angel wings burned in the floor? How would a human do all of that? Even if they could it would need an assload of time they didn't have."
Shawn was still giving them the "you are obviously bat-shit crazy" look when Jody stepped out from behind, having been concealed by the moose. "Look, I didn't believe it either. Until the day my son stepped out of the grave, I would have assumed that these guys" she gestured to the four men, "were nuts. But when your dead kid shows up at your doorstep and five days later eats you husband you don't have a choice." A tear fell from her eye. Her left eye. She was being sincere about this - whatever this was.
Henry took to staring at the floor. "And when your first girlfriend becomes vampire dinner...you don't have a choice there either."
First girlfriend. Yeah, he had mentioned Ellie once when he was teaching him to shoot. Murdered on the highway. Still, not one bit of this could be explained. Therefore, it was impossible. They must have simply misinterpreted what happened in the trauma and then... oh god, did his dad kill people thinking they were monsters?
"Ok, I know that look. You haven't believed a damn word we've said." grumbled an annoyed Dean. He half-turned to the others. "I think we all know there's only one way he's going to believe any of this."
"Wait wait wait. We are NOT getting him involved with this leviathan business. I barely know what I'm doing beyond spray Windex and run like hell. He's never gotten involved with anything like this since he stumbled on that werewolf case a few years back." He paused to offer an explanation, but apparently decided against it.
Shawn opened his mouth to retort something about "you guys need to seek professional help" before Cas spoke up again. "I agree with Henry. It would be unwise to involve him in a case as urgent as this. I can already see that the leviathan cannot copy him nor control him, and therefore will attempt to destroy him as they sought to do with Kevin and Charlie." He paused. "But on the other hand if he were to go back to the police he would involve the police force, which would end in more bloodshed. If what has been said here can be proven it may buy his silence for a time, and restore trust in his father."
Without another word, he closed his eyes in concentration. Slowly, a light began to fill the tunnel. It seemed controlled, as if it was meant to be much more powerful than this. As Shawn watched in awe, two shadows appeared in the light, strongly resembling wings. Shawn could have easily chalked this all up to some special effect his it had not been for his eyes. They glowed a brilliant blue when they were once a simple ocean colour. If Shawn had finished that Coke he would have pissed himself.
The light receded and his eyes went back to normal. Sam and Dean were indeed awed, especially Dean, but it was clear they had seen it before. Jody and Henry clearly had not, though they were nowhere near as surprised as Shawn. The angel - what else could he be? - had been correct in saying it would buy his silence. For the first time in his life he could think of nothing to say.
"We need to find the next torch. The door will not last long." Even as he spoke Shawn could hear the team trying to break down the door. They might have about two minutes to get to this next torch, whatever that was supposed to mean.
The torch turned out to have been just around the bend. Beneath it was a heart carving bearing the names Romeo and Juliet. Cas and Dean reached for it at the same time, brushing each other's hands. If Shawn hadn't been so silently freaking out he would have snickered at the faint flush on Dean's cheeks. He also would have been loudly remarking how awesome this passage thing was when another hidden door opened. It closed once they were inside.
His daze must have been wearing off by that time, though, for he remembered the hair he found on his pie contraption in the office. Now that he thought about it Sam's hair was about that length.
"So... what were you two doing at Psych this morning?"
"It speaks. For a minute there I was afraid Cas traumatized you," chuckled Dean.
When Sam was done giving his brother a "I am so done with your crap" face he replied "Rumour had it that you were psychic. Thought we'd check it out, but apparently rumour had it wrong. We could see that as soon as we walked in."
"Not all great mystics have bat-caves covered in...mystic stuff."
"All the ones we've met did. Besides, sometimes psychics tend to piss off a few things," Shawn noted the emphasis on things, "and pointing them to you with a big green sign isn't usually something a psychic would do if they wanted to be somewhat discreet. Then there's the fact that we overheard your dad saying there was something up with the case to which you replied with saying that there had to be a logical explanation. Psychics aren't logical. They're psychic."
Shawn rubbed at his eyes to try to dispel all of this. This was a dream, right? Ahh...it had to be. Maybe if he just pinched his arm hard enough he would wake up on the couch, having fallen asleep watching TV. Come on, after everything why would he be cool with he and his dad and this random sheriff walking down a dark tunnel with the Winchesters plus awkward trench-coat dude?
He paled. Cas. One could only dream of faces they saw before, and Shawn could remember every thing that ever happened to him. Ever. If he had seen this guy before, he would have remembered. Especially if he had been wearing that coat. Ew. It so did not match his shoes.
So it's not a dream. Monsters were real, and his dad had been hunting them since his first girlfriend died. And the Winchesters might not actually be serial killers.
For the second time in his life, he could think of nothing to say.
