Getting Jess settled upstairs was hard. The room we slept in before had been turned into a makeshift hospital room. Eventually though she was covered and clean and IV bags were hung. She hadn't stirred and if it wasn't for the soft flutter of her pulse under my fingers I really would be worried. I knew Dean was back downstairs finishing explaining what happened. No one was running up the stairs yet, so either Dean hadn't told them about the demon blood or they were handling things with an unusual amount of grace.
Dad came up the stairs. I heard Bobby shuffle into his bedroom a minute later and Dean clicked the bathroom door shut. Dad stood in the doorway watching me hold Jess' hand.
"When you were a baby, it was everything we could do to keep Dean out of your crib at night. He'd always want to crawl in with you because he was terrified something was going to happen to his baby brother and he wanted to be there to protect you. After your mom died, I quit trying to stop him."
"This is going somewhere?"
"Seeing you with Jess reminds me of that. You kept wanting to crawl in with her, but no one was around to stop you."
"I knew she was in no shape to go on that hunt. She knew it too. She didn't want to seem weak," I said.
"I don't think anyone will see her as weak after this."
"They'll have the Winchester men after them if they even imply it," I said, more to her.
"Yeah. Can I come in?"
"Sure. You should have seen her with Elkins, Dad. Apparently word has gotten around about howshe handled that lady in white and probably the vampires by now. She tried reasoning with him, but when she figured out he wasn't going to listen to reason she had a gun on him faster than I could have. I though he was going to piss his pants.
"With the wolves, too, before they got their claws into her she was taking pointand she was kicking ass. Even when they were on top of her she got enough shots off to get them to scatter."
"She's a damn fine hunter, that's for sure."
"Yeah. She doesn't take crap from me either."
"You froze when she got hurt didn't you?"
"Yeah, it was like everything I had ever known flew out my head. I couldn't remember how to breathe."
"That's how I felt when I saw Mary up there. Worst moment of my life."
"I can't lose her," I said. I needed him to know that.
"So don't. Marry her, Sam. She's the one for you. I can tell."
"That's what Dean said earlier. Told him she already turned me down."
"Did she?"
"Yeah," I said. Laughing felt inappropriate, but a short burst escaped me anyway. "To be fair it was the least thought out, least romantic proposal ever. I'd have turned me down too."
"I proposed to your mom in an auto shop. Couldn't get away from work, and I'd told her I'd meet her, and God it was a mess."
"Motel room. I didn't even have a ring."
"You win. I still have your mom's ring, if you want it. I think Mary would've wanted Jess to have it."
"Yeah. Let's just get through this first. Bigger fish to fry."
"Just let me know."
"I will. Did Dean tell you about the other stuff?"
"He did."
"The demon blood?"
"We're not getting rid of you that easy. Not to say we won't be keeping an eye on you, and well, if it comes to it, doing what needs to be done."
"You mean if you need to kill me."
"Never thought it would come to this. Never thought we'd be sittin' here talking about killing you."
"I'll just make sure it doesn't come to that."
"You aren't alone, Sam. I've done some things in the past year I'm not proud of, but I won't make that mistake again."
"I know."
"You came face-to-face with the thing?"
"Yeah, he stole the Colt, then gave it back. It's like he wants us to kill him."
"He probably thinks we can't. We've been chasing him for twenty years."
"Well, we're close. If he wants me, sooner or later, he's going to have to come back for me."
"And we'll be ready. Whatever he's planning, it's not going to happen."
"We really know how to land in it, don't we?" I said, with a snort.
"Yeah, yeah we do."
"There has to be a way of tracking the others down."
"If there's anyone that can find it, I'm almost positive they're under this roof. We just need to find out who he is; I imagine his friends in Hell don't call him Yellow-Eyes."
"We'll get him." We had too, I added in my head.
"Think Bobby wanted the second shift, so make sure you wake him up."
"I will. Thanks for, you know, saving her."
"It's what we do." Dad left. I heard him walk back down the stairs.
"What do you think, Jess? You want my mom's ring?"
Unsurprisingly, she didn't move.
"Please wake up, babe. It doesn't have to be today, but please wake up."
Talking to her was pointless. I settled for holding her hand, and silently watching the rise and fall of her chest. It was incredibly dull if I was being honest. Later, Bobby stumbled into the room, rubbing his eyes.
"I got her, boy. Go get some sleep 'fore you pass out."
"Thanks, Bobby."
"Couldn't have my favorite girl dyin' on us now."
"No."
"It's not your fault. You needed to get out of there and you couldn't've left her."
"We nearly killed her. "
"Better than actually being dead. Quit moping."
"Yes, sir."
I went into the guest bedroom. Dean was already asleep and I couldn't bring myself to care. I flopped down next to him and passed out. I was aware of Dean getting up a few hours later. I stuffed the pillow under my face and sprawled out properly before falling back asleep. I woke up two hours later to Bobby pounding on the door.
I rolled to my back, rubbing my eyes. I stood, finding some clean clothes. I went down the hall to where Jess was, running my fingers through my hair. Dad was sitting by her bed, reading one of the old books.
"She woken up?"
"Not yet. Give it time, Sam. Her body has been torn to shreds."
"I know. I just want her better."
"So do I."
"You guys find anything?"
"Not yet. Bobby headed to town to pick some stuff up just now. Dean found something that needs translating. Latin, I think. He left it for you."
"Oh, fun. Whatever it takes."
"Get some coffee and get to it."
"Yes, sir."
I went downstairs, knowing there was nothing else to do right now. I poured a cup of coffee, and went to the den. We were using Bobby's as a home base, now. It was better than skipping from motel to motel, but it still felt weird. I set down my coffee on Bobby's desk.
It's the closest thing we have to a home, Sammy
"Mornin', Sam."
"Morning."
"Sleep alright?"
"Yeah, once you got your giant ass out of bed."
"You've taken up at least three-quarters of that thing since you were ten."
"Dad said you guys had something that needed translated?" Dean pointed to the pile of papers next to my coffee. He put his book down.
"Found 'em earlier. They might be useful, but they're in Latin."
"Why isn't Bobby translating it?"
"He had to go into town. We figured you could use the practice."
"Thanks."
Dean was equally capable of translating the text. I knew he wasn't doing me any favors.
The words slowly started to flow into English. It was rough- it had been a while since I'd had to translate anything. I took a drink of coffee and settled deeper into the chair. It was going to take a while.
I heard Bobby come back. Dean stood and cracked his back before disappearing outside. They moved around, the front door was opening and closing. I figured at least part of what they were bringing in was more supplies for Jess.
I focused in on the translation. I still had about another six hours before it was my shift with Jess. I was hoping to get something out of the text before then. It was definitely talking about high-ranking demons. Bobby came in, and stood in the doorway.
"When was the last time you ate, Sam?"
"Uh," I stuttered.
"The last real meal," he clarified. It took me a minute to think of it. We had pretty much just eaten road food- beef jerky, corn nuts and soda on the drive over.
"Dinner, the night before the demon showed up," I admitted.
Bobby sighed. "So three days ago? Get some food in you, before you pass out. Idjit."
"I'm not really hungry."
"I know you ain't hungry with an axe hanging over your head and Jess halfway to dead upstairs. Doesn't mean you don't gotta eat." I knew arguing was pointless, and now that it had been pointed out to me I realized I was sort of starved.
"Alright."
I followed Bobby to the kitchen and yanked a pan out. I cracked open a few eggs and listened to the sizzle. Bobby had bacon popping next to me a few minutes later.
"You doin' ok, Sam?" he asked. I should have known he had an ulterior motive.
"Doesn't matter," I said, shrugging.
"You've had a metric ton of crap thrown at you the past few days."
"I'm a little freaked, but we're gonna get this figured out and Jess'll wake up. It's gonna be fine."
We can handle anything, Sammy
"Well, I've never seen anything like this, and if I didn't know better I'd say we were on the edge of something big."
"Where'd Dean get to?"
"He took over for John."
"Still no change?"
"No, but she's holding steady. I'm thinking between the pain meds and the damage she'll be out for a while, and it's probably the best thing for her."
We ate the meal in relative silence, mostly talking about the weather and how the salvage yard's busy season was about to start. I went upstairs after, and on my way back down I heard Dean's voice and stopped.
"Jess, honey, I know it probably hurts like a bitch right now, but you need to open your eyes, just for a few minutes so we know you're still in there. Sammy's falling apart without you. He loves you so much, even if he is a dick about it sometimes. I need you too, Jess, so please just, for a minute."
I considered making my presence known, but decided to leave a private moment alone. I didn't want to read too much into it I went back down and focused on translating. The work kept me sane. There was one name that kept cropping up, always in relation to impurity. Azazel.
"Bobby, I think I got something."
"Well, what is it?"
"Azazel. He keeps being mentioned with impurities, and it talks about yellow eyes."
"Well, crap. You Winchesters sure can pick 'em."
"You heard of him?"
"Yeah, sure. Not the bit with the yellow eyes, but I know the name. Thought he was like Bigfoot, just for the religious."
"What's with him?"
"The story says he was an angel stationed on Earth, and like the rest of them, he got to know humanity. He fell in love with a human woman, had some kids. Eventually, it corrupted him and he killed a man breaking into their home. When Lucifer fell, he went with him. They say he was the devil's right hand man."
"He fell for protecting his family?" Despite myself I felt a surge of pity for him.
"He fell because humanity corrupted him. Course angels aren't realthe only lore that refers to them is thousands of years old. Last anyone heard of them Gabriel was telling Mary she was pregnant and that one is pretty debatable.
"So even if he's not a fallen angel-"
"You're up against Hell itself. I don't knowif he's the top of the food chain, but he's close."
"So the salt lines weren't effective because he's too powerful?"
"I'd bet my dog holy water won't do anything but piss him off."
"At least we know what we're up against," I sighed.
"Not sure it's going to make a difference."
"It's something."
"We still don't know what his plan is or what he wants with you."
"It's a start. I'm gonna go relieve Dean."
"Keep him there. I'm going to wake John up."
"Right."
We had a lead and that's what mattered. I still didn't know how I was going to explain any of this to Jess when she woke up, assuming she decided to stick around. It was probably the stupidest thing to be worrying about right now, but I couldn't help it. There had been an epic fight brewing before the demon came in, and then she had been attacked, again. Trying to explain that I was the reason for it, the reason most of Hell wanted her dead, wasn't going to be easy. I went upstairs and stood in the doorway watching Dean watch Jess sleep. It was sorta, tender. I cleared my throat and Dean jumped.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey. We found something."
"What is it?"
"Bobby's getting Dad now. I'm only explaining once."
"Alright."
"How is she?"
"She started shifting around a little bit ago."
"She's still in there." I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face.
"Yeah, I think so."
Dad and Bobby came in, leaning against the walls.
"The Yellow-Eyed Demon is called Azazel. He tops Hell's food chain and is, at least according to the document I read, impurity personified. Holy water and salt aren't going to affect him."
"And he wants you why?"Dean demanded.
"We don't know yet, but if there's more children like me it's something big."
"I mean, you said he told you he was rooting for you. What does that mean?"
"We just know his name, what he is."
"We don't have his plans or who the others are or anything!"
"Actually, we might," Dad said.
"We do?" I asked.
"Just a sec." Dad turned out of the room and I heard boots down the stairs. I perched on the edge of the bed next to Jess and took her hand, stroking her knuckles.
"That's all we have huh?" Dean broke the silence.
"A name is a powerful thing, Dean. Summoning rituals, locations, curses, invocations," Bobby rattled off.
"Right, but we aren't exactly ready to take him head on."
"It might not be a bad idea," I pointed out.
"We don't know exactly the effect the demon blood will have on you or any of the others. For all we know you're connected to him. You could die if he does."
"Well, then I wouldn't be a threat anymore," was my retort.
"No, Sammy. We're gonna figure this out and no one is going to die."
Dad came back in carrying his journal and a binder.
"What do we got?" Bobby asked.
Dad came over and spread the papers out on the bed. There were maps and diagrams and notes I couldn't quite decipher upside down.
"For six months before and after the fire there was a series of nursery fires almost exactly like the one that killed Mary, all over the country. We were in the exact middle."
"And those are meteorological maps," Dean said, turning one over to look at it.
"Two weeks before every fire there were electrical storms and cattle deaths in the area, including Lawrence."
"Demonic omens," I said.
"The fires took place exclusively on the night of the baby's six month birthday. The mother died in every one." Jess shuffled on the bed and I squeezed her hand.
"So if we find out who these kids are, we probably have the ones Azazel wants."
"Exactly."
Jess shifted again. I looked at her. Her face was contorting in pain, and her eyes were fluttering.
"Jess?" The room's attention turned to us.
"Sam?" she croaked.
A/N: Don't you just love cliffhangers? I do. Let me know what you think.
