A/N: I know, I know. And I'm really so very sorry for that. This takes place in Scarecrow (after Asylum and before Faith), but its rather short and not actually the first installment of the episode. It's been driving me crazy and so I thought of getting it out before I write Shadows. Yes, this idea is what kept me away for so long because I was kinda conflicted in writing it, but now it's finally here. I should also tell you guys that the biggest villains who caused this delay in update were college and studies. And it pains me to say that it doesn't seem to be improving anywhere in the near future. So yeah, updates will be few and far between. Hope you forgive me. And no, I haven't abandoned this story. I plan to complete at least season 1. And oh! How could I forget, a thank you as big as the universe itself to all you guys. Over 300 reviews, 150 follows, and 100 favorites. Awesome! Love ya all.
The ringing of a phone interrupted Lyra's sweet morning sleep. She groaned and turned on her left, covering her exposed ear with a pillow. When the offending noise continued, she reluctantly opened her eyes and quickly swept her gaze around the room. Neither of the brothers was in sight so she picked up the cell from the bedside table, and flipped it open with a sigh. "Hello?"
For a few seconds there was no answer, as if the other person was deciding whether he had dialed the right number or not. And just when Lyra thought of saying hello again, a man's suspicious voice sounded in her ear. "Who's that?"
"Oh come on man," she grumbled in reply. "At least know who you're dialing."
"I know who I dialed and you're not him," the man harshly bit out, then lowered his voice to a mutter. "Can't believe he let a hook-up attend his phone!"
That immediately got her attention and she shot up straighter, eyes wide. "Hook-up?" she said in a low, disbelieving tone. "Just who the hell are you to call me that?"
"I'm his father," John answered wearily. He didn't have time to deal with hurt feelings of one of Dean's nightly excursions.
"Then his father probably forgot that his son's married now. And I'm his wife, not some hooker!" She barely hid her anger this time; her voice bitter than alcohol.
"Oh." John didn't know what else to say. He really did forget that fact, but how could he? A grimace claimed his unshaven face. If such big detail slipped from his mind, how was he supposed to catch that one elusive bastard? He couldn't afford any mistakes now. Halting his thoughts from turning in that direction, he focused on the call and that's when it hit him. He was talking to his daughter-in-law, and boy did he have a wonderful start.
"Wait. John?" It seemed Lyra had also come to realize something big. "You called? After all these months of searching for you countrywide, you decided to have a talk now?" There was a trace of accusation in her voice. She was frustrated with the 'no contact' policy he had kept up, while they fretted over his wellbeing. "You weren't hurt or something, were you?" she asked with a frown, concerned that he might have been actually in a hospital, dying, unable to reach them.
He closed his eyes briefly at her questions, knowing that was what his sons had been thinking all the while. Feeling angry and, above all, worried at his sudden disappearance. "I'm alright," he answered, opening his eyes to keep a lookout around the payphone he was talking from. "Where are Dean and Sam?"
"Sam's…" she looked around the room again, noticing the early morning light filtering through the windows. "Gone to get our breakfast, I suppose. And Dean's in the shower. Want me to get him?"
John paused for a few seconds to think it over. "No. Leave him be." He wasn't sure that he could handle talking to one of his boys and not wanting to just run back to them. Though he had dialed Dean's number, he wasn't confident that he could actually talk to him, and thank God he was saved from a possible emotional turmoil when Lyra picked up the phone and not one of his sons. He had survived this long without them only in hope of that one day when all this would be over and they could take a much needed break. Away from this world and hunting. Just the three of them. Oh, now four.
"Okay," she drawled, an eyebrow already arched up, but aware that he couldn't see it.
"How're they doing?" he asked softly in his aging voice.
"They're doing good. And so am I, though you didn't ask. But I totally understand why," she rambled, suddenly nervous that she was talking to Dean's dad. At the other line, John smiled. Her innocence was a breath of fresh, yet nostalgic, air to him. It took him to that time when Dean was only four and Sammy was a new born. When they were blissfully unaware of the horrors of the world. And when Mary was alive. His eyes found the gold wedding band on his finger that he never took off, and he could feel the pain again. No matter how long time had passed, it still hurt to think that she was dead. He was jerked out of his depressing thoughts by Lyra's voice, "Where are you, by the way?"
"I can't tell you that."
"You can't tell me that? Or you can't tell us that?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes.
His eyes sparkled with amusement as he replied, "I can't tell anybody that."
"But why not?" Confusion was evident on her face. She didn't know what to make of this call.
"Look, I know this is hard for you all to understand. But you gotta trust me on this," he said seriously.
"What're you so deep in that you can't even see your children?" she questioned. "You're hunting the thing that started this all, aren't you?"
"Yeah, it's a demon," he agreed, albeit a little reluctantly.
"You're after a demon?" she exclaimed. It was hard for her to gulp that one down. Demons were a whole new level of supernatural craziness. "You know where it is?"
"Yeah, I think I'm finally closing in on it," John answered, an anticipatory smirk on his face. But he knew this wasn't it, there was a long way to go yet.
"Then why don't you let us help? You'll need all that you can get," Lyra offered, not liking the idea of him going after that bastard alone.
"No! You can't be any part of it," he said fiercely. Just the thought of his kids against that demon made him afraid- the lone thing that could defeat him.
The protectiveness in his voice kept the girl from questioning him further so she conceded, "Alright, but-"
"Listen to me," he commanded in that authoritative tone he knew so well, courtesy of his ex-marine status. "You tell Dean and Sam to stop looking for me, alright? Now, I need you to write down-"
"But at least give me a reason for that," she pleaded hastily, cutting him off. She knew the brothers were going to grill her for every single word their dad said, so she better be prepared for their questions.
"Look, I don't have time to explain," he replied tiredly after a moment of stunned silence. It really irked him when people interrupted him mid sentence. Haven't they heard anything about patience? "This is bigger than you all think, they're everywhere. Even us talking right now, it's not safe." And that was why the veteran hunter had been suspicious of her initially. It was all too easy for demons to tap into their phones and track them.
"Okay, I'll tell them exactly that," she said, understanding the urgency of the situation. "Now you said about writing something?" She jumped out of the bed and began searching for some paper and pen.
"Yeah, some names that you need to search immediately." He was relieved that she didn't protest anymore or this would've been difficult. If it had been Sam instead, he was sure his youngest born would be throwing a fit by now.
"Wait a sec. Pen… pen… pen." She hurriedly dug into her bag to get a pen, but threw it down when there wasn't one. "Where the hell's a pen when you need one?" That comment lifted the corners of John's mouth. She sounded quite young which had him wondering just how old she was. Dean had never mentioned her age to him. "Yes! I got one, go on," she urged as she sat at the small dining table where she had luckily found a pen. John dictated six names to her which she quickly jotted down. And before he could hang up, she spoke, "Hey, uh, your boys will be pleased to see you again. They've been worried sick about you. And hell, even I'm curious to meet you. Just so you know."
"I know," he said wistfully. "And, Lyra? I'm sorry 'bout the hooker part." He didn't wait for her reply and ended the call. She stared at the phone for a full minute, letting the words sink in, then huffed, "At least you know my name."
"Who knows your name?" She jumped at the sound and looked up to see Dean toweling his wet hair. As he went to pick a shirt from his bag, her eyes slid to his bare chest. But she didn't avert them as she would've done in the past, though a slight blush did grace her cheeks as she quite openly stared. Nakedness was not something new to her when living with the brothers, and so she had stopped being skittish about it a long time ago; much to Dean's disappointment. He loved to tease her over that, often walking around in his towel to embarrass her.
She lifted her gaze to his face again, to find him smirking at her. He had obviously caught her eying his 'perfect' body as he called it. "It was your dad," she answered him, effectively erasing that smirk from his face.
"What?" he asked in bewilderment, though she could see the faint relief in his surprised expression.
She nodded to confirm, "He called." The words had barely left her mouth and he was snatching the phone from her hands.
"He didn't call from his cell," Dean mused, inspecting the last number on his call log.
"Yeah, he's thoroughly following the 'underground' protocol." Lyra rolled her eyes at some of John's words that still resonated in her mind.
"What'd he say?" He asked with barely concealed anxiety, looking at her expectantly; but then his expression changed to one of irritation. "And more importantly, why didn't you let me talk to him?"
"You were in the shower," she shrugged nonchalantly, avoiding his penetrating eyes.
"So?" His tone conveyed the incredulity he felt at her answer. "That doesn't mean you can't knock and hand over the phone to me. I don't even lock the door! You could've just walked in."
"And saw you naked? No, thank you very much. I think I'll pass," she bit out, fixing a glare at him. "And besides, he asked me not to fetch you."
"Now why'd dad say that?" Dean was growing more and more confused by the second. First his dad called, which was a shocker in itself, that too from a public phone, and on top of that, he practically refused to talk to him. Just what the hell was going on?
"Did I just hear 'dad'?" Sam's voice reverberated in the motel room as he walked inside through the door, carrying their morning meal in hand.
"Yeah, apparently he called," Dean confirmed, shifting his gaze back on Lyra for further light on the topic.
"He did?" Sam did a double-take, staring at his brother in shock and relief.
"Don't look at me," the elder Winchester spoke in a bitterly defensive voice. "She did all the talking here."
"And?" Sam prodded when the girl in question kept staring at her 'bitter-half'.
"And he told you to stop looking for him," she answered finally, unlocking her eyes from Dean to look at Sam.
"What!?" both brothers exclaimed simultaneously, though who's voice was louder was hard to tell.
"Yeah," she nodded for emphasis, "he said that the hunt he's on is so dangerous that he can't risk us following him." She paused to let that sink in then added for good measure, "Or a phone-call for that matter."
"What is he hunting?" Sam queried in a worried tone, though both other occupants of the rented room could tell that he was more desperate to know than concerned over John's safety.
"That I've no idea about," Lyra lied, being a little too late and too dramatic for it to be taken as true. She had that bad of a poker face.
And that was enough for Dean to suspect something. "Bullshit! What aren't you telling us?" He pinned her with a dark look that said- 'so much as think about the L of 'lying' and there'd be hell to pay'.
Lyra gulped nervously under the intensity of his words, both spoken and unspoken. "I think he said it may be a demon," she answered vaguely.
"Is it about Jessica and Mom?" Sam was a little wary over the matter, but there was a gleam in his eyes that screamed 'Finally!'.
"I… I…," Lyra was at a loss of words. What was she supposed to say? That 'yeah, your dad found your mom's and girlfriend's killer but you aren't to contribute to his demise'? She could just imagine Sam's reaction to that, and it wasn't a pretty sight to realize.
"I want every damn word of that conversation." Dean's voice was low, dangerous, bordering on threatening; but when he barked 'Now!', it was confirmed that it was a threat. And threats didn't sit well with Lyra, especially when it wasn't her fault that they had to be made in the first place.
"You know what? Why don't you call your dad and ask him yourself? Oh but he won't pick up, after all he doesn't want to talk to you," she replied snidely, crossing her arms at the chest.
"Look Lyra I," Dean began irritably when Sam cut in. "Why don't you two cool it down?" He held up his hands in a placating manner towards his big brother and motioned for him to take a seat. Then he turned to Lyra, "And why don't you start by telling what's that?" he gestured to the notepad in which she'd jotted down the names.
"Don't patronize me Sam," she snapped, but handed the notepad to him, who took it with an apologetic expression. "He said to look into these names," she explained, then averted her eyes to Dean to catch his gaze, and added, "nothing more."
Sam took the list of people over to Dean and they both examined it, thinking for the possible connection among them, hoping for any bells to ring. Just not the phone's bell, for Lyra's sake.
"What about these names?" Dean questioned, looking up at Lyra, confused, as Sam still mulled them.
"What part of 'nothing more' do you not understand?" She threw up her hands in exasperation, looking like a hen whose feathers had been rustled, by a tornado no less. Not that the hen would make it, but still…
"The part where you refuse to share what he told you," Dean retorted just as snarkily.
"He didn't tell me anything!" she defended furiously, frustrated with the whole mess she'd landed herself in."That's the point. He just told me to tell you to stop tracking him because they're everywhere, and even-"
"Who's everywhere?" Sam interrupted.
"The demons, of course," she answered with a dramatic 'duh' face. "And that's why he was avoiding our calls, he doesn't trust the lines. I guess that was the last you'd be hearing from him- at least on phone," she amended when she saw the look on the brothers' faces.
"Why can't he let us help him? This demon's a big fish to catch," Dean voiced his thoughts, earning an eye roll from Lyra.
"No shit Sherlock, it definitely is a big shark, and that's why John doesn't want you two anywhere near it." She gave him the only logical thing John had said to her- his need to protect his sons.
"That's a load of crap," Dean burst out. "We're not kids anymore; we can take care of ourselves. Or at least Sammy isn't a kid anymore, if I say so myself."
"Hey!" Sam cried indignantly.
"Shut up! I've always been an adult," Dean rebuked, eliciting a huff from his younger brother.
"Jerk."
"Bitch."
"I think 'm gonna shower," Lyra grumbled as she stood up to make her way to the bathroom. But before moving, she held up a hand to stop Dean who she knew was about to question her relentlessly, "And no, he didn't say anything else. Not about his location, or the demon's, or who the demon is, or how he's going to kill him; zip nada nothing."
She slid inside the bathroom with her towel in hand and chided herself for not just handing the phone to Dean when she found out it was John calling. She could've prevented the headache that was sure to plague her all day if the brothers kept this up. If only she could've let that hooker comment slide and let Dean handle his dad. Maybe it would've been better if she really was just some hook-up for Dean and not his wife; the whole scenario would've been different then. But no, she wouldn't have it any other way. Not when Dean was involved as a husband.