Ch10 Facing the Demon
"Sam!" Dean's voice echoed in the hall. He felt rather than saw his brother shove him back inside the room. The door slammed shut. "Man, what I wouldn't give for some of that goofer dust right now!"
Sam regained his balance. "What happened?"
"Dude! That's a hellhound out there!" Something crashed against the door. Dean shoved Rae away as he braced himself against the door. Sam threw his weight beside his brother's. The hellhound was pounding the door, sending jolts along their spines with jackhammer regularity. When Sam feared it they could no longer hold it back, that it would break through, it stopped.
Sam looked at Dean, hardly daring to believe their luck. Dean shook his head. He did not believe it. If there was one thing the Winchesters were short on, it was good luck. There was a knock at the door. It sounded suspiciously human.
"If you repairmen don't mind, I would very much like to go in my office." Mister Dolan's voice came through the door.
Dean shot Sam a worried look. This obviously was not going to plan. Dean moved away from the door to stand in front of Rae. His gun was held loosely in his hand as nodded to Sam. Sam opened the door slowly, standing behind it, gun ready.
Mister Dolan, or rather whatever was possessing him, strode into the room and sat behind the desk. Dean shot Sam a quick smile, but they both knew this was far from over.
"I will be calling your employers to report this. I expect you both to be fired by the end of the day. Now get out." Dolan looked down at his computer screen, not bothering to make eye contact.
"No." Dean held Rae tightly behind him. "Our job isn't finished yet."
"I told you, you should expect to be fired," Dolan looked up. "Oh, I see." His smile sent a shiver down Sam's spine. "Dean Winchester." He leaned back in his chair. "I suppose I should run away screaming in fear now? And is?" He glanced over where Sam was shutting the door. "Ah, of course. Sam would be here, too." He gave a knowing nod. "So my yellow-eyed colleague has not been successful yet? What a shame. Apparently I need to recall my hound."
Dean took a rosary out, twiddling it in his fingers with a wicked smile. "I'm going to enjoy this one," he said.
Mister Dolan stood, glaring at them. "You can't seriously expect me to just stay here and take it?"
"Actually, that's exactly what we expect," Sam said, pointing to the ceiling. "Now, why don't you tell us about that clinic in Riverside?"
Dolan's eyes went solid black as he looked up. "Well, what do you know. In my own office, too." He shook his head. "You know, I didn't believe all those rumors about you two. My mistake." He braced himself for the exorcism.
"I believe my brother asked you a question," Dean prompted, pulling a flask out of his jacket pocket.
"What? Riverside? Never heard of it." Dolan smiled in a way that would chill the Fourth of July.
Dean chuckled. He tossed the contents of his flask in Dolan's face. Dolan screamed, clawing at his eyes. "Riverside!" Dean shouted.
Dolan reeled backwards, to the edge of the symbol on the ceiling. When his hands came away, there were burn marks across his eyes which were still pitch black. He laughed. "I'll bet you'd like to know."
Dean produced their father's journal from under his work shirt. He opened it and began reciting in Latin.
"Are they experiments?" Sam shouted. "What are you trying to learn?"
Dolan screamed, the primal scream of the damned. The bookcase behind Dean teetered.
"Dean!"
Dean turned around in time to see it start to fall. He had just enough time to shove Rae out of the way, using his own body to protect her from the falling bookcase. Sam tried to run to his brother, to help, but something caught him. He looked around, but there was nothing there. He felt the air squeezed out of his lungs, heard Rae's sharp cry as Dean fell, felt the ground rush up and slam into his body as darkness crowded his vision.
"Mommy! Daddy! Help! Help!"
Sam forced his eyes to open. What happened? It felt like his chest was in a vice, no air was getting in. He gasped, trying to locate the screaming child. It was Rae. She was trying to pull Dean out from underneath the bookcase. The journal was on the floor beside him. Sam reached out, trying to grab the journal. He had to finish the exorcism, it was the only thing that would save them.
"Mommy! Daddy! Hhheeeellllppp!!" Rae was hysterical, screaming and crying, yanking on Dean's collar.
The lights flashed erratically. "Damn that housekeeper!" Dolan roared, the room shaking. "This was supposed to be fixed!"
The other bookcases began to shake. Books shot out, pelting Dolan in the face, driving him to the very edge of the symbol on the ceiling. Sam found that he could breathe again. The journal was at his fingertips. One more stretch and --- he had it. His fingers closed around their lifeline, pulling it close. From the floor, Sam finished the exorcism, shouting to be heard above the whirlwind of paper and books assaulting Dolan. There was another demonic scream. Sam looked up. Black smoke was emerging from Dolan's mouth, twisting up and away like a thin evil tornado.
"Dean!" Sam was on his feet, straining to lift the heavy bookcase off his brother. "You!" he shouted to Dolan, now that he was no longer possessed. "Get over here and help!"
Dolan stumbled around his desk, looking around in utter confusion. "What's happening here?"
"He's under the bookcase. Help him!" Sam struggled to keep the bookcase up. He felt as though every muscle in his back and legs might snap, when it felt lighter. Sam pushed harder and the bookcase moved further away from Dean. As he turned, still shoving it back, each push and shove became easier and easier, though logically that was not possible. The bookcase was upright. Sam wiped his brow, but Dean was still down.
"Dean!" Sam knelt beside his brother, on the other side Rae was still pulling frantically at his shirt. He slapped his brother. "Open your eyes, Dean! Dean!" Panic was gripping him, even as he fought to control it.
Rae was crying but she went still. She was staring just beyond Sam. Sam turned around. There were two figures standing behind him, the same two he saw outside the Impala: Clementine's parents.
"You. You can't help him. Can you?" His chest was no longer in an invisible vice, but he still could not breathe. Not now. "Can you?"
Rae clung to Dean, tears flowing freely down her face as she watched the images of her parents. Sam felt for a pulse, something that did not occur to him a moment ago. He breathed a sigh of relief. Dean's pulse was steady and strong. He was just unconscious, probably had a concussion.
"I'll call an ambulance," Dolan's voice came from behind the desk. As the man spoke to emergency services, Sam watched something very odd happen. Clementine's parents were speaking to her, but Sam could not hear them. He guessed his abilities were the only reason he could see them. He wished he had learned to read lips, that would be very useful now. On reflection, they really did not have lips, so he supposed that perhaps even if he could it would not do him any good. They appeared to reach an agreement with the silent girl. The father walked, or rather glided, over to the attorney's computer. He placed a hand inside the monitor. The printer started up, gently hissing as it spat out page after page.
Dolan hung up the phone. "The ambulance should be here soon." He investigated his printer. "What were you two doing in here, anyway?" As he reached for the pages, they floated away to the desk. Sam stood to watch as two ink pens floated out of the desk drawer. The pens signed the papers again and again.
"What is it?" Sam whispered to Dolan.
Dolan shook his head. "I don't see anything," he protested, shutting his eyes.
The pens returned to their place in the desk drawer, which shut with bang.
"Huh?" Dean stirred by his feet.
Sam dropped back to his knees. "Dean! You okay?"
"Hell no, I'm not okay," Dean grunted. "Just had a bookcase fall on me, didn't I?" He held out a hand.
Sam ignored the hand and grabbed Dean's shoulders to help him into a sitting position. Rae immediately crawled into his lap. "Just sit here for a minute, okay? The paramedics will be here soon."
"Aahhh, Sammy!" Dean groaned. "I'm fine. No need." He waved a hand, but did not get up. Rae had his other arm wrapped around her stomach.
Sam ignored his brother, determined that the idiot receive proper medical attention regardless. He reached for the papers on the desk. As he flipped through them, he looked up at Dolan. "Do these mean what I think they mean?"
With a shaking hand, Dolan took the papers from Sam's hand. With a practiced eye, he skimmed the document. "According to this, the McDermots have named one Dean Winchester as their daughter's legal guardian in the event of their death. Hmm."
"What?" Dean glanced up at Sam. Sam waved a hand back at him to shut up.
"Hmm what?" Sam demanded.
"Well, these papers were not notarized." With those words the pages flew out of his hands. They fluttered in a whirlwind before stacking themselves neatly on the top of the desk. Dolan picked them up again. "Ah, I see everything is in order." He was pale, but handling everything much better than Sam would have hoped. "Apparently a judge who has been dead for the last five years even approved it, so there is no need to return to court." He held out the papers to Sam with a trembling hand. "These papers should suffice if you ever need proof of legal guardianship." Sam took the papers, knowing they would probably never need proof of guardianship. Dean would undoubtedly 'obtain' a birth certificate when the need arose.
"The girl?" Dean asked from the floor, cradling his head in one hand. "The one upstairs?"
"What girl upstairs?" Dolan leaned across the desk.
"The one the demon was gonna use to control the McDermot estate! What happens to her? She thinks she's getting a real home for a change." Dean pressed a palm against his temple. "Damn, I got a headache."
"I'll, uh, see what I can do," Dolan promised.
"No, you're going to have to do better than that," Dean snapped. He shifted, trying to stand. Sam helped him to his feet. "You," Dean prodded the rotund man in the chest, "are going to find her a home, you hear me? A real home. Poor kid's been through enough."
Dean sighed, looking down at Rae. "So have you." He dropped to one knee, wincing as his head throbbed. "I'm sure you can stay here. They'll take really good care you. No more demons or monsters." He looked her straight in the eye. "What do you say?" Sam heard his brother's voice crack, but he was pretty sure no one else could tell.
The tears were still flowing down Rae's face. Lights started flickering again. "Oh, come on, already! I'm trying to do the right thing here!" Dean shouted at the ceiling.
The document lifted from Sam's hands and soared through the air into Dean's palm. Dean's eyes dropped to read it. "Sammy? Why does this thing have my name on it?"
"Dean, her parents want you to be Rae's guardian," Sam explained. "And everything looks legal. They even gave you permission to change her name and the form to do it with," he shuffled through the papers, pointing out the legal name form, "here."
"Huh? Sammy, this is one hell of a weird dream." Dean just stared at the paper.
"You aren't the one with weird dreams, Dean," Sam said gently. "So, will there be a trust fund for her? To pay for clothes, books, college?" he asked Dolan.
Dolan shrugged. "As her legal guardian, he will control the entire estate."
"But I don't want it," Dean protested. "I mean, we travel way too much. And I can't possibly stay in just one place. Sam, you telling me that I'm…a…what?"
"The word is parent, Dean." Sam turned back to Dolan. "What if he signs the authority for the estate back over to you, on the condition that you liquefy all holdings in medical clinics or anything that might be used for human experimentation?"
"Well, if he keeps it in her name, then I will be able to put away the profits into a trust fund for her. We can even set it up so you can draw on it periodically throughout her life."
Sirens wailed in the distance. "I don't think we're gonna have time for that. Sammy, that doesn't sound like an ambulance." Dean jumped onto the desk, pulling at the plywood screwed to the ceiling.
"Dean! What are you doing?"
"What's the point in having a portable demon trap if you don't take it with you?" Dean demanded.
Sam sighed his long-suffering sigh. "Hold on, I'll help. You," he pointed to Dolan, "go get rid of the cops."
Dolan left the room, pale and sweaty. Sam was pretty sure the guy had a clue about what happened, he was just refusing to believe it. It was easier taking down the trap than it was putting it up. In less than a minute they had the plywood off the ceiling and folded up. Sam took it away from Dean, wondering how they could get out of there with the car out front and cops everywhere.
Rae was pulling on Dean's arm, wanting to go upstairs. Dean ignored her, heading for the back door. As they passed the stairs, she shouted, "Daddy! Daddy!"
Dean froze. "Sam? See anything?" His head whipped from side to side.
"Dean? I'm pretty sure she was talking to you." Sam nodded to Rae. "You did say you wanted a title, remember?"
Dean's mouth opened and closed a few times, but nothing came out. Rae was still tugging on his arm.
"Maybe you should go see what she wants," Sam nodded to the stairs. "I'll wait here."
"But the cops!"
Sam shook his head. "If Dolan couldn't handle it, they would have been inside by now. Go ahead." Sam rested the plywood on the floor. He watched Dean led upstairs by a six year old, his face glazed over in shock or disbelief. Or perhaps it was just Dean being Dean and not allowing his emotions to show. Either way, their job just got a whole lot more interesting.