Authors Note: Well, I was going to start the Gordon Walker fan club but after reading all the reviews, I've decided my club would be rather empty. But I do want to thank VGiselleH, Saturne, Raven, liebedero, Invader Kiwi, Hasmik Aharonyan, MaddyWinchester, FireChildSlytherin5, Taeriel, savannaharaiza5, lobita, androidtracker, numb3rs mystery, FireAngel5683, LilyBolt, Wunjo, SkyHighFan, Nyx Ro, Dark Knight Warrior, b, roy23, Gustin azza, BranchSuper, guest, Stone120, jazzy2may, angelofheaven001, if-llamas-could-fly, Genessis Mendez, celestialstarynight, AlElizabeth, RoseDragon666, and elfinblue for their awesome reviews.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Among Friends and Enemies
Dean found himself staring, first in shock and then in barely concealed anger, at a young Gordon Walker as the man ran into the Roadhouse. Memories of this man, and all the pain he'd brought down on Sammy, slammed into the young hunter's mind with such force that he was certain he'd be thrown from the stool that he was perched on. It hadn't occurred to him that he might run into any familiar faces when he'd talked his parents into bringing him here. And meeting up with this asshole sure as hell hadn't been on his wish list. But here they were and Dean knew that he was going to have to somehow control his temper. That last thought went clear out the window when the man opened his big, fat, good-for-nothing craphole of a mouth.
"You might wanna call off happy hour tonight, Billy. Vamps are after me in a big way, and if they follow me here, I doubt it's going to be a very happy night for anyone."
The anger Dean was feeling turned into pure, white-hot rage. This idiot had just apparently led a group of vampires into a bar that was run by a young couple that was expecting a baby. And Gordon didn't even seem to care that Ellen was pregnant and about to have to fight off bloodsuckers. Dean was about to hand Walker his ass, when Bill did the job for him.
"Are you nuts, Gordon? Wait don't answer that. I've known for a while that you're straight jacket material, but this is going too far. You've brought this down on my family and you were just in here a month ago, so you know Ellen's not in fighting condition. You're an ass, Walker. A complete ass, and I have half a mind to tie you up outside the front door and hope that when they drain every last drop of your blood that they leave me and mine alone." Dean grinned evilly as Gordon paled a bit and gaped like a fish out of water. "But seeing your drained corpse might just be bad for business. So you man the door and let any hunters in, turn the civies away, and let us know when the hell you've brought us shows, got it?"
Gordon made a face. "I'm the expert here, Billy, and…"
"You aren't an expert in anything but causing trouble. You may be an okay vamp killer, but I've got more experience than you. Besides, this is my bar and I call the shots here. You got a problem with that, we can always go back to the whole 'tie you up' plan." Bill turned back to Dean and his family. "You guys want to take off? We can use the help, but I'd understand if you want to get gone. Family comes first."
"Give us a moment." Dean's dad requested.
Bill nodded and walked off to the other end of the room with his arm around Ellen's shoulders. They could hear the couple arguing in loud, angry whispers but ignored the words. They had enough to discuss themselves.
"What happens now?" His mom asked.
"I say we leave." His dad replied. Dean went to protest, but the oldest Winchester held up a hand. "This probably happened the first time around too, and we weren't here to help then either. And, by your own account, the whole family lived long past this date."
"But we are here now, Dad." Dean protested. "And something just doesn't feel right."
"What do you mean?" His mother questioned.
"I don't know?" Dean replied. "It's just… I know Gordon. He's a world class bastard. Tried to kill Sammy more than once. I should kill him right now just on principle. But the fact is that it just seems weird that he'd show up now, on our first trip to the Roadhouse, and bring trouble down on us all too. It just… seems… off."
"You're right." Cas spoke up. Dean turned to look at him the angel was sitting perfectly still, his eyes shut tightly. "This was not the path that the original timeline took."
"Gordon didn't get chased by here by vamps?" Dean asked.
"No. He angered the nest and they chased him. He was headed in this direction on foot but encountered a truck full of hunters on their way here as well. They came to his rescue. Two died in the encounter but the vampires were defeated and never made it this far."
"Why didn't the hunters help Gordon this time?" His father wanted to know. "Us being here couldn't have changed that.
"They are dead."
"How?" His mom gasped.
"I don't know. But we can investigate when we are done here."
"When we're done here?" His dad raised an eyebrow.
"We have to stay, Dad. I can't shake the feeling that this is all connected to me. Why else would something have changed? It's my fault that the Harvelles are in danger right now and I can't get Ellen and Jo killed again, not if I can stop it."
"Okay," His dad relented. "But we're going to be smart about this, got it?" Dean nodded. "And we're sticking to our cover story. Especially with psycho Walker here. After what you've said about what he's capable of, I don't want him knowing anything about us. And if a vampire happens to chow down on him, nobody needs to run to the rescue, okay?"
"Understood." Dean agreed, with a smirk.
Dean watched as his father walked over to Bill. "We're staying. But we need a safe place for Sammy to stay. I take it there's somewhere that your wife is going to be waiting out the attack."
"Yeah." Bill nodded. "We have a reinforced safe room in the back. No windows. One door. A trapdoor to escape if it comes to that. Ellen's got a tranq gun with a few shots of dead man's blood but it won't last long so it'll be our job to keep the vamps from finding them. Dean can stay back there too."
"No way in hell I'm hiding in some room while you guys fight for your lives. I'm in this too."
Bill gave him a skeptical look. "You think you can decapitate a vampire."
"I can sure try. And even if I don't got the strength to take the head off in one clean strike, I can incapacitate 'em long enough for you guys to finish the job. Besides, they'll take one look at me and underestimate me just like you're doing."
"He's got a point." Dean's dad placed a hand on the smallest hunter's shoulder in a show of support.
Gordon Walker had turned from his post at the door to look at them. "And you call me crazy, Billy?"
"Shut it, Walker. I've known this family for a blink of an eye and I already like them a hell of a lot more than I like you. Besides, the way I hear it, the kid's a better hunter than you'll ever be. Now turn your attention back to that damned door!" Bill practically snarled that last part and Dean found his respect for the man growing by leaps and bounds. "Okay John, you got any weapons in your car?"
"Uh, we don't have our car here. We took a taxi. Didn't want to drive if I had too many to drink."
Yeah. Took an angel taxi service.
"Crap. Well, I'll have to get out my blade collection then." Bill checked behind the bar and pulled out a machete and a small sword. Dean had already noticed that Gordon was holding a machete, so that meant that they were still short three weapons. The boy knew that Cas could easily get his hands on some, but that would bring up some hard to answer questions. Bill looked up towards the ceiling and then motioned to Dean. "Hey kid, you want to help me out?"
"Sure, what do you need?"
"Come on over here." Dean did as he was asked and Bill placed a hand on each of his shoulders. "If you have no objections, I'm going to pick you up and get you standing on my shoulders. Don't worry, I won't let you fall. Grab on to the rafters up there and see if you can pull yourself up. There's a long, thin weapons locker up there. Shove it down and then jump. I'll catch you. Think you can do that?"
Dean nodded. "No problem. But I gotta ask; why keep it somewhere that you can't get to without a five year old kid's help?"
"Used to have a step ladder to reach it, but it got broke last week in a bar fight. I'd move a table over and stand on it, but I'd be afraid that it'd just fall apart under my weight."
"Yeah, they do look like crap."
"Hey, watch it!"
Dean grinned. "You said it first. Now we gonna do this or what?"
Bill picked him up around his waist from behind and lifted him until Dean was able to get his feet on the man's shoulders. The boy straightened and reached up as far as he could. Dean felt the hunter's fingers wrapped around his ankles, holding him steady as he stretched out and grabbed onto the rafters above his head.
"Got it!" He announced.
Bill let go and Dean leapt and began pulling his body up. He was reminded of climbing the monkey bars all those weeks ago to talk with Carrie Milton. Of course, that day he'd only had to deal with one skeevy perv, not a whole bunch of vamps, but hey, he'd take what he could get. Dean swung his legs up onto the wooden beam and crawled over to the box that Bill must've been talking about. It was long but incredibly narrow. From below, no one would ever know that it was even there. A perfect hiding place. Bill was turning out to be a pretty smart guy. When the young hunter reached the weapons locker, he called "Look out below!" and pushed it down. Dean shuffled back to where he'd climbed up and glanced down. Bill was still there. The boy wasn't sure how he felt about trusting the man to catch him. He'd feel better if it was Cas or his dad but he figured that since he was about to go into battle alongside this hunter, he better know right now whether or not this guy was dependable or not. If he found himself bleeding on the ground he'd know not to trust his family's lives in Bill Harvelle's hands. So, with that not so cheery thought in mind, Dean took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped down from the beam. He felt himself drop and then two arms wrapped around him and gently stopped his fall. The boy opened his eyes and came face to face with the older hunter.
"Didn't think I'd let you hit the ground, did you?"
"Didn't know what to think." Dean did the best he could to shrug while being held by the man. "Just met you, after all."
"But you jumped." Bill pointed out.
"And now I know that you wouldn't let me hit the ground."
"You're a strange kid."
"So, it's been said."
Bill put Dean down. "Well, thanks for the help."
"Not a problem. But you might want to get a step ladder soon. It might be a while before Jo is old enough to do that for you."
"Joe? Nicknaming my kid already?"
Dean just shrugged in response, then changed the subject. "So what's in the box?"
Bill led the boy and his family over to the object and then knelt down. Dean's mom had already handed Sammy off to Ellen who was standing ready to escape to the safe room at a moment's notice. The hunter pulled a key ring from his pocket and selected a tarnished silver key. Dean inspected the weapons locker, but couldn't see a keyhole. He was about to point out this fact but then Bill pressed down on one of the wooden panels and a portion of it slid away to reveal a keyhole. Dean was impressed. Bill unlocked the box and opened it.
Dean felt his eyes widen as he looked at all the weapons stored away in the trunk. There were no guns besides an old pistol, those were probably kept behind the bar, but there was an array of antique and very valuable-looking blades of all shapes and sizes, a bow and arrows set, a mace, Chinese throwing stars, and some weapons that looked suspiciously like stuff you might see in ninja movies. It was one hell of a collection.
"Where'd you get this stuff?" Dean asked.
"Lots of hunters come through here. They pick up all kinds of stuff and sometimes they don't have cash to pay their tabs. I'm a bit of a collector. And you never know when a katana blade may come in handy."
Dean grinned. "Words to live by, man." He carefully looked over the blades before selecting the shortest and lightest one there. He'd be able to swing that one the easiest. He still doubted that he'd have the strength to take off a vampire's head in a single blow, but it would have to do. Then he continued to look through the collection. Seeing what he was looking for, Dean slid the blade through his belt so that it was resting alongside his leg. Then he carefully crouched down to pick up a soft leather case that folded out to reveal a set of a dozen small, beautifully embossed silver throwing knives. The craftsmanship was out of this world, and as he took one out and held it in his hand, Dean could tell that the balance was perfect. He put it back with the others and slid the case in the back of his jeans. He was set.
Dean turned to see his dad holding the machete, his mom the small sword, Bill had the aforementioned katana blade, and Cas was holding a really badass looking sword. Dean had to admit that the angel looked super cool holding a weapon like that.
"If we're all set?" At everyone's nod, Bill closed up his weapon's locker and moved it behind the bar. "Okay, Ellen and Sammy will be in the back where it's safe. Dean, I saw you take the throwing knives. You any good with them?"
"Yep."
"Great. I want you back here up on the bar top. Aim for eyes, knees, anything that'll slow them down. Once they get close to you, you can put that larger blade to use. I need one of you to stay with Dean." Dean was impressed that Bill, while remaining in authority in his own bar, was smart enough to leave the battle over custody of Dean to the Winchesters.
"That'll be me." Cas volunteered.
"Great." Bill nodded. "John, I hate to do this to you because you seem like a great guy, but I need to pair you with Gordon. I can't do it because I need to remain in here away from the door and I don't trust him around your wife. You get behind the door and leave him to watch it. Help him take out the vamps as they enter. When they start to come in too quickly, fall back. Got it?"
"Got it."
Dean was pleased that his dad was taking Bill's orders without question. But the other man had more experience and they were on his territory, so it made sense. The boy wasn't so sure that he liked the idea of his dad working with the douche-bag that had tried to kill Sammy, but what other choice was there?
"Mary, you and I are positioned at the halfway point between the front door and Dean; I'm left, you're right. When John and Gordon fall back, they'll be in-between us, so leave room. The goal is to keep the vampires from even reaching the bar. Dean and Cas are our last line of defense. Hey, Gord! You happen to know how many blood suckers are in this nest that you just poked?"
"Dozen and a half? Maybe more?"
"Yeah, he has no clue. Rushed in with little to no intel, as usual." Bill shook his head in disgust.
"Hey, shut your mouth! I know what I'm doing."
"Oh, so you planned on bringing hell down on Bill and Ellen?" Dean shot back. "'Cause if so, I say we're getting ready to fight the wrong monster."
"You got some attitude, boy."
"At least I got a brain to go with it, which is far more than I can say for you."
"Dean," His mom interrupted. "Now's not the time."
"Sure ain't, half-pint." Gordon agreed. "Cause we got us some fanged company."
Dean swallowed back his response and hopped up onto the bar. The small hunter pulled out the throwing knives and opened up the set, laying them on the wooden surface within reach. Dean selected one and held it between his fingers and thumb by the blade. He remained in a crouch, ready for the attack to begin. His baby brother and Ellen were safe for the moment and everyone else had taken their positions. It was show time.
Author's Note Part Two: And the vampires approach... Who votes that we feed Gordon to them and all go home? And what's up with the change in the timeline events (and Cas and to some extent Dean sensing this)? Please leave a review and let me know what you think. thanks.