AN - This chapter and the next are a very happy birthday wish to my friend. You know who you are.
Also, I want to say a very heartfelt thank you to the rest of my readers! Enjoy!
It was well after dark when we got back to Liberty Inn in Alliance. Dean pulled up in front of the motel, and I got out, hoisting my duffel and my backpack onto my back. I was headed towards the room after Sam when Dean stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. I turned.
"You go in there and you get ready for bed. No argument," he said when I opened my mouth. "I'm going to get you half a Benedryl and we'll see if a good night's sleep doesn't get rid of this bad attitude. Go on."
Bouncing my backpack on my back to resettle it, I caught up with Sam right in front of the door, Dean on my heels. Sam opened the door and we all saw Cas standing in the middle of the room by the half-wall. I kept my furnace closed tight and walked around Cas to drop my stuff on my bed. Despite the fact that I either felt sick or my furnace seemed to want to open itself in the presence of any godly or godlike being that wasn't Gabby, keeping it shut around Cas had gotten easier and easier. When I got out of earshot of probably everyone but Cas with his super-hearing, I muttered. "Great, everyone's favorite angel."
Sam had dropped into the chair by the table and the three of them were talking about the boy Jesse now. I sat down on the bed to take off my shoes as slowly as possible so I wouldn't miss anything.
"It's lucky you found the boy," Cas said.
"Oh, yeah, real lucky," Dean said, leaning on the sideboard under the window. "What do we do with him?"
"Kill him," Cas said. I stopped pretending to take off my shoes and sat up. All three of us stared at Cas.
"Cas…" Dean said with reproach.
"This child is half demon and half human, but it's far more powerful than either," Cas said. He walked towards the table. "Other cultures call this hybrid cambion or katako. You know him as the anti-Christ." He looked right at Sam when he said it. I got to my feet as Cas sat down in the empty chair at the table.
Fart noises emanated from under him, he looked startled, then confused. Finally, he reached under him and pulled out the whoopie cushion Dean had bought at The Conjurarium. "That wasn't me," Cas said.
Smiling, Dean said, "Who put that there?" I smirked.
Ignoring Dean's shenanigans, Sam said, "Anyway, I don't get it. Jesse is the devil's son?"
Cas sighed. "No, of course not. Your Bible gets more wrong than it does right. The anti-Christ is not Lucifer's child. It's just demon spawn, but it is one of the devil's greatest weapons in the war against heaven."
"Well, if Jesse's a demonic howitzer, then what the hell's he doing in Nebraska?" Dean asked, spreading his hands.
"The demons lost him," Cas said. "They can't find him. But they're looking."
"And they lost him because…?" Dean asked.
"Because of the child's power. It hides him from both angels and demons. For now," Cas said.
"So he's got, like, a force field around him. Well, that's great. Problem solved."
"With Lucifer risen, this child grows strong. Soon, he will do more than just make a few toys come to life, something that will draw the demons to him," Cas said. Dean's face grew more and more concerned and Sam looked grave. "The demons will find this child. Lucifer will twist this boy to his purpose. And then, with a word, this child will destroy the Host of Heaven," Cas said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean said, holding up a finger. "Wait. You're saying that Jesse's gonna nuke the angels?"
"We cannot allow that to happen," Cas said, leaning back like he had rested his case. I nodded but kept my mouth shut. Sam's eyes flicked to me and back to Cas.
"Wait," Sam said, appalled. He glanced at Dean and stood up. "We're the good guys. We don't just… kill children." His eyes met mine for a second.
Cas stood up and leaned in, his voice dark. "A year ago, you would have done whatever it took to win this war."
"Things change," Sam said.
Dean's eyes flicked between the two of them. He put a hand on Sam's arm and stepped between Sam and Cas. I got to my feet.
"Okay. Hey, look, we are not going to kill him," Dean said. "All right? But we can't leave Jesse here either. We know that. So we take him to Bobby's. He'll know what to do."
"You'll kidnap him?" Cas said. Dean glanced at Sam and then nodded, but Cas wasn't done. "What is going on in this town, it's what happens when this thing is happy. You cannot imagine what it will do if it's angry. Besides, how will you hold him? With a thought, he could be halfway around the world."
Dean's expression was thoughtful. "So we…"
Then Sam cut him off and stepped forward to the table again, angry. "So we tell him the truth. You say Jesse's destined to go dark side, fine. But he hasn't yet. So if we lay it all out for him - what he is, the apocalypse, everything - he might make the right choice."
Cas and Sam stared at each other for a long moment. Then Cas leaned in. "You didn't," Can accused. "And I can't take that chance." Sam's jaw tightened and Dean dropped his head. Then Cas was gone.
"Damn it," Sam said, and then they both started stripping off their suit jackets.
"Jessie, bed," Dean said, tossing his jacket over the back of the chair. "Move. We don't have time."
"What are you gonna do?" I asked as he pulled off his tie.
"We're gonna go sit outside the house and wait for Cas to show up. Go… go!" He shooed me off, so I went back to my bed and pulled my pajamas out of the duffel. I held them up but he just shooed me towards the bathroom. Shrugging, I went.
When I came out of the bathroom, they'd both changed into their normal clothes. Dean was tying his boots and Sam was checking his pistol. I got in my bed and sat there, watching them finish packing up their stuff. They sure could move. It hadn't even been five minutes since Cas had disappeared. When they were both ready, Dean dug into his bag and pulled out the bottle of pills. He reached in and split one in half, and Sam came over with a glass of water.
"Take it," Dean said. I took it and put it in my mouth. When Sam handed me the water, I drank some. They tucked me in hurriedly and told me to call if something happened, and then they were gone.
I waited patiently until the car had driven away and then spit the pill back out into my palm. I climbed out of the bed.
Ten minutes later, I was dressed and jogging towards the boy's house. It wasn't even a mile away. I told myself that if the boy was as powerful as Cas had said he was, they were going to need my help. My stomach started hurting and I tried to ignore it. I knew I was disobeying and I knew the guys were going to kill me when they caught me, but… I couldn't lose them, not to this thing, this anti-Christ, half-demon creature. How could anything half-demon be in the slightest bit good? How could his humanity overcome? No, they needed me to protect them. I kept telling myself that as I ran.
When I reached the house, I saw that the front door had been kicked in. I slowed. Cas must've showed up and the guys must be in there trying to stop him. I broke into a run again then, but as I got nearer, I heard calm voices through the open windows. I slipped around the side of the house and hid in the bushes to listen.
"You're a superhero," Dean was saying.
The boy's little voice piped back, "I am?"
"Yeah. I mean, who else could turn someone into a toy?" Dean said. "You're Superman, minus the cape and the go-go boots. See, my partner and I, we work for a secret government agency. It's our job to find kids with special powers. In fact, we're here to take you to a hidden base in South Dakota, where you'll be trained to fight evil."
"Like the X-Men?" the boy asked. Oh my god, I thought, rolling my eyes. What a bunch of crap. They hadn't lied like this to me when they showed up. Of course, when they'd shown up to get me, my circumstances were much more dire. I'd already suffered the consequences of my abilities.
"Exactly like the X-Men," Dean said, chuckling. "In fact, the guy we're taking you to, he's even in a wheelchair. You'll be a hero. You'll save lives. You'll get the girl. Sounds like fun, right?"
There was a crash then. Shit! I'd gotten so caught up in listening to them talk that I hadn't been watching for anything else. I pushed out of the bushes and ran up the steps to the front door. Jumping over pieces of the broken door frame, I ran into the room.
"Stay right there, dreamboat," a blonde woman was saying to Sam. "Can't hurt you. Orders." Her eyes flicked to Dean then. "You, on the other hand? Hurting you's encouraged." She flicked her wrist and slammed Dean against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Then she flicked her wrist again and he went flying back.
"Stop! You bitch!" I screamed at her. I opened my furnace then, put my arms together and pushed a tendril as hard as I could down my arms, but instead of a tendril, this time I urged it to be fire. The tendril burst out of my hands already alight and flaring towards the demon like a flame thrower. She threw her hands up in front of her and pushed back and down, pushing the fire to the floor. Not wanting it to burn the house down, I quickly pulled it back into me, and she slammed me up against the wall opposite Sam and Dean and held me there. My head snapped back and hit the wall. Dazed, I fumbled for my furnace, but even though it was still blazing, but I couldn't open it. It was like a great weight was holding me and it down and closed, just like when I'd burst in on that demon that was giving a coven powers back when I'd first started traveling with the guys.
"You fucking bitch!" I screamed at her and she flicked her hand. My mouth snapped shut and I couldn't talk.
"Leave them alone!" the boy yelled.
The demon's face softened. "Jesse," she said. "You're beautiful. You have your father's eyes."
I glanced at Dean and he raised his eyebrows at me. I tried to nod and was able to, just a little and he looked relieved. Then, his expression switched to murderous. I was going to have hell to pay when I got out of here, but I'd already known that. I looked at Sam then, unable to meet Dean's eyes any longer. He was watching the demon tell the boy that she was his mom and that he was half human and half one of her. Dean spoke up then and said that she meant demons, and the demon clenched her hand in fist, making Dean groan with pain.
Anger filled me and I struggled to free myself, but the force pressing me against the wall was too strong. I couldn't kick. I could barely nod. All I could really do was tremble.
The demon wasn't done talking to the boy though. She told him that his parents had lied to him, that they weren't really his parents. The boy looked doubtful and said his mom and dad love him.
"Do they?" the demon asked. "Is that why they leave you alone all day? Because they love you so much? These people, these impostors, they told you that the tooth fairy was real and that your toys could hurt you and a hundred other things that aren't true. They love you so much, they made your whole life a lie." The boy was starting to look really mad now and the demon continued, smiling. "Look into your heart, Jesse. You've always known you weren't theirs. You've always known you were different. Everyone has lied to you. They're not FBI agents, and you're not a superhero."
"Then what am I?" the boy demanded.
"You're powerful. You can have anything you want. You can do anything you want," the demon urged.
From the other side of the room, Dean yelled out, "Don't listen to her, Jesse!" The demon stood up straight and shot her arm out. Dean groaned in pain. My furnace started to boil, pressure was building and my head was starting to pound, but there was no way to let it out. If I could just find a weakness in this force…
"They treated you like a child. Nobody trusted you. Everybody's lied to you. Doesn't that make you angry?" the demon said.
The room started rattling, startling me and I stopped struggling against the force pressing me against the wall and looked to see Jesse clenching his fist. The fire in the fireplace roared to life and lights flickered all over the room. I stared in shock, my furnace dying down, and my stomach hurting even more now.
The demon straightened, smiling. "See? It does make you angry, but I'm telling you the truth, Jesse."
The vases on the mantle shattered. Lights danced. A wild wind blew through the room, knocking into things, making them bounce. I was so horribly, horribly wrong to ever think that I would be any match for this kid. I wasn't even a match for the demon, and this kid was so much more powerful. I should've known that already with what he'd done with the toys. I was an idiot.
"Wouldn't it be better if there were no lies? Come with me and you can wash it all clean. Start over. Imagine that, a world without lies." Jesse clenched his hand again and the picture on the wall of him and his parents fell to the floor and shattered. We were so fucked. The wall between Sam and Dean cracked. My heart leapt.
"She's right," Sam rushed out. "We lied to you, but I'll tell you the truth." The demon's face twisted and she reached up clenched her hand. Sam groaned in pain and I heard a crunching noise. Sam didn't stop though. "I just want… to tell..."
Jesse looked from the demon to Sam and back, concerned. "Stop it," he said. Sam immediately slid off the wall onto his feet, trying to catch his breath, even though the demon's hand was still clenched. "I want to hear what he has to say."
"You're stronger than I thought," the demon said with awe.
Sam looked between the two of them and started to straighten up. "We lied to you, and I'm sorry," he said with earnestness. "So here's the truth. I'm Sam Winchester. That's my brother, Dean. Our kid, Jessie, is on the wall over there. We hunt monsters."
"Except when you are the monster. Right, Sammy?" the demon chided.
Sam ignored her. "And that woman right there, her name is Julia. She's your mother." The demon looked down on Jesse with affection since Sam was validating her story, but he continued. "But the thing inside of her, the thing that you're talking to, it's a demon." The demon shot Sam a baleful glare.
"A demon?" Jesse asked doubtfully.
The demon cut in. "He's done nothing but lie to you since the moment you met him. Don't listen to him. Punish him."
"Sit down and shut up," Jesse snapped. A chair flew from next to me to Jesse's side and the demon was plopped down into it, unable to talk. Jesse turned back to Sam.
Sam glanced at the demon uneasily and continued. "There's, uh, kind of a war between angels and demons, and... you're a part of it."
"I'm just a kid," Jesse said.
"You can go with her if you want. I can't stop you. No one can. But if you do... millions of people will die," Sam said.
"She said I was half demon. Is that true?"
"Yes. But you're half human, too. You can do the right thing. You've got choices, Jesse. But if you make the wrong ones, it'll haunt you for the rest of your life."
Tears reflected in Jesse's eyes. "Why are you telling me this?!" he cried.
"Because I have to believe someone can make the right choice, even if I couldn't," Sam said, his own eyes filling with tears. Jesse watched him for a second and then he turned and looked at the demon.
"Get out of her," he said. The chair flew backwards into the wall to my left and the demon poured out of Julia's throat and up the chimney. The pressure holding me to the wall vanished and I fell to my knees on the floor below, next to the chair where Julia lay knocked out. Across from me, Dean dropped to the ground panting.
"How did you do that?" he asked, still trying to catch his breath.
"I just did," Jesse said.
Dean gave him a pained half-smile. "Kid, you're awesome," he said and pressed his head against the wall groaning.
My heart about stopped. Dean had said Jesse was awesome. I swallowed against the hard lump in my throat. They were going to replace me with him, I just knew it. Dean looked at me and gestured to me to come to him. I struggled to my feet and staggered over to him.
"You ok?" he asked, running his hands over my head and down my arms.
"Yeah," I whispered.
"Good, sit and don't move," he ground out, pointing to a chair by the archway into the room. When I turned to go, he swatted me on the butt and I jumped. I sank into the chair. Jesse went over to check on Julia and after staring at her for a second, he asked Dean if she'd be all right. Dean said she would, eventually, and then picked up a tiny action figure off the floor. Dean told Jesse that it was a buddy of his and asked if Jesse could turn him back. I was confused until the trench coat on the action figure made me realize that it was Cas. I leaned forward and buried my head in my hands. I was so, so outclassed.
Jesse didn't want to turn Cas back to normal because Cas had tried to kill him, so Dean let it go for the moment.
"What now?" Jesse asked. Sam and Dean exchanged looks.
"Now we take you someplace safe, get you trained up. You'd be handy in a fight, kid." Dean said. I sat up straight, my mouth dropping open. After all the crap they'd fed me about not hunting and not fighting and this Jesse, this BOY, they were going to train and let him fight? I stood up, the edges of my vision fuzzy with hurt and rage, and stalked towards the front door, too angry to care.
"Jessie!" Sam called after me. I turned to see him standing in the archway I'd just left. "Where do you think you're going?"
"The car," I growled, "I've heard enough."
"Ok," Sam said. "You make sure you stay there. You hear me?"
"Yes, Sam," I said. He disappeared back into the room with Dean and the boy Jesse. I stalked out the front door, but I didn't go to the car. I jogged back towards the motel, instead.
Fifteen minutes later, when I got there, I slammed into the room and packed my duffel, making sure I had all my clothes, my snowman, and my novel. I dropped my phone on the bed and hoisted the duffel onto my back. Then I just left and headed towards the highway.
