Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; the original concept of this story was inspired by 'To Hell & Back' by EventRider87, but I've added my own spin to things and have received EventRider87's permission to use their idea for this
Feedback: Much appreciated
AN: A shorter chapter, mainly summarising some details that didn't change from what originally aired, but I can assure you that I'm making more alterations to the rest of the episode, for reasons that will become obvious at the end of this chapter…
The Corrupted Innocent
A couple of hours later, Bela was grateful that she hadn't made the initial 'date' joke; if this was a date, it would have been a let-down by any definition. Their attempts to check out the tombs where the last missing bodies had been discovered had failed to turn up anything that might lead them to whatever they were hunting now, beyond the fact that their adversary had opened up the bodies and released some of the embalming fluid, which didn't do much to help them narrow down the 'suspect list'.
Talking of the supernatural, it was almost disturbing how easily Adam had accepted the idea that the supernatural was real, that his mother was dead, and that his brothers hunted it; from everything she'd heard about his reaction, he'd been almost too casual about it, particularly when the Winchesters were still arguing about what they should do with him. Dean didn't entirely agree with Sam's apparent plans to bring Adam into the hunting lifestyle, but Bela had to admit that she could see both sides of this particular argument; Dean was correct when he noted that John's actions made it clear that he hadn't wanted Adam involved in hunting, but at the same time, Sam had a good point when he argued that the issue wasn't going to go away just because they wanted Adam to stay out of it now that at least one creature knew about him.
Bela didn't think that supernatural monsters had some kind of 'network' where they all kept in touch with each other- demons aside, monsters always seemed to act in small groups rather than a larger 'family'- but after everything that John Winchester had done over the years, he'd certainly earned enough enemies that a known child of his wouldn't be safe unless they knew how to defend themselves.
Right now, however, with Dean following up on a lead on a sheriff who had apparently helped John deal with the public reaction to the feedings back in the day, that left Bela to wait in the hotel room as Sam give Adam a quick crash-course in the essentials of what he'd need to know if he had to defend himself. Attempting to maintain her neutrality on this issue, she was trying to do some additional research on the case in case something else occurred to her, but she couldn't help but keep an ear out on Sam and Adam as Adam received his latest lesson on disassembling weapons…
"Sam," Adam suddenly said, looking awkwardly at his brother, "how did Dad really die?"
"Demon," Sam said simply.
"You hunted it down?" Adam continued. "Got revenge?"
"Dean killed it," Sam confirmed.
"So it's over for you?" Adam asked.
"It's not over," Sam and Bela said simultaneously.
They were each spared from saying any more when the lights suddenly went out, something rattling outside the room. As Sam cocked his weapon, Bela quickly gathered up her files and reached into her shirt to pull Uriel's angel blade out of her jacket, shooting a warning glance at Adam to stay back as Sam moved towards the door. Opening the door, Sam glanced around outside before he raised his glance in realisation.
"It's in the vents," he said, as he looked back at his brother and Bela. "Go!"
As Sam fired at the vent, all three of them ran from the room to the lower level, Bela quickly heading to her car as Sam and Adam ran for Adam's truck. Bela was just about to start driving when she saw something pull Sam to the ground as the Impala pulled up, prompting her to get out of the car and run to help Dean as he ran to his brothers. As Dean and Adam pulled Sam to safety, Bela grabbed Sam's dropped shotgun, hit the ground, and fired at whatever was under the truck, prompting some kind of scream before the sounds under the car ceased. Glancing under the truck, Bela noticed a sewer grate with the lid at an angle over it, but there was no sign of anything moving under it; if something had been attacking them, it was clearly long gone now.
"Nothing there," she said as she stood back up and looked at Dean, anticipating his first question. "There's a sewer grate just under the truck; it must have used that to escape."
"Sh-should we go after it?" Adam asked.
"No way," Dean said firmly. "We'd never find it in that maze; thing's probably long gone by now."
"All right, so we don't know what it is, but we do know who it's after," Sam noted. "Joe Barton, Adam's mom-"
"And Adam," Dean said grimly.
"And since we're assuming Joe Barton helped your father crack this case last time, revenge seems like the best motive for all this, correct?" Bela suggested grimly.
"Which means that we're dealing with something that can think…" Dean groaned.
"It also means that we have a plan," Sam added, looking grimly over at the young man.
"No," Dean said, walking forward to stand firmly between Sam and Adam.
"Dean, we don't even know what this thing is yet; we're never going to find it if we take away what it wants-" Sam began.
"And when did it become an option to use anyone as bait?" Dean countered, which at least saved Bela asking why Sam was suggesting what struck her as more Dean's kind of plan.
"Dean, I don't like it any more than you do, but we can't just dump Adam off at Bobby's or Grandma's and hope that he'll be safe once we find this thing," Sam pointed out. "We know that it's after him now, so if we help Adam prepare for what's coming after him-"
"He could die, Sam!" Dean protested.
"We could all die, Dean," Bela noted, shooting him a particular stare to remind him of the fact that the two of them had already done that before she continued. "Even if we stop this thing, there are other things out there that would want revenge on you or John for what you've done in the past; now that whatever this thing is knows about Adam, how long will it take for something else to track him down?"
"Hey!" Adam said, glaring between the two older men. "In case you're forgetting, this is my life and my mother; if I can help take this thing down, show me what to do!"
When faced with Winchester stubbornness multiplied by three on three distinct perspectives, Bela found herself wondering if she was really ready for the commitment involved in her current relationship with Dean…
The following evening, Bela wondered if she should be grateful that Adam's training had gone well or concerned at how smoothly things were going. Adam might be a Winchester by blood, but he'd spent his life completely ignorant of his real background, and he was picking up on weapons like nobody's business…
Of course, even if Adam was picking up the essential hunting skills, that still left her and the Winchesters with the issue of what they'd do with him once this was all over. In contrast to some of her earlier assumptions, Dean was all in favour of Adam staying out of the life while Sam was talking about how he'd never be able to have a normal life now that he knew about the demons and monsters out in the world and vice-versa.
Still… even if she was trying to stay out of the debate, that didn't stop her from feeling at least slightly touched at the moment when Sam had looked at her while talking about 'family' as though he was deliberately trying to include her in that assessment, but that also didn't stop her from worrying about what this would do for the future. Introducing a new hunter to the life would always be a challenge, but bringing someone in when Adam was dealing with the loss of his family in every sense while they were also facing the Apocalypse itself, and she doubted if anyone would be able to cope with it…
Quite frankly, she was glad that Dean had avoided bringing her into the debate; she might be considered family by the Winchesters, but she still wasn't sure how she felt about this mess herself, never might getting anyone else involved. She could appreciate Dean's desire to give Adam a normal life and Sam's 'acceptance' that it was impossible- although she was less sure about Sam's speculation that Dean was 'jealous' of Adam having a normal life with John- but that didn't help her work out what side she should pick once this mess was all over…
With Dean out chasing up another possible lead, and Sam keeping an eye on Adam, Bela had decided to take advantage of the opportunity to do some additional Apocalypse-related research for any of the possible remaining Seals. She knew that it was a relatively pointless way to occupy her time at the moment, but since she didn't want to actually get involved in the debate right now, it was easier to try and do something potentially practical than just sit around and talk with Sam and Adam about the issue. Sam and Adam had been able to deal with setting up the most likely protective barriers around the house while she carried out her work, but she just wasn't sure if this was going to work…
"We're ready," Sam said, walking down the stairs to look at her with a grim expression. "We've closed off every other way into the house; if this thing's going to attack us, the only way in is the vent it used earlier, and we've got that covered."
"In other words, our best strategy is an obvious trap?" Bela asked, looking grimly at Sam.
"If you have a better idea-"
"I don't," Bela countered, before she sighed and turned her attention back to the texts in front of her. "As with this lot, we're just having to make do with what's in front of us…"
Further response was cut short when the sound of a door opening came from below them, prompting them both to look at each other in shock even before they heard a voice calling Adam's name. Glancing at Sam, Bela was about to ask if Adam had a girlfriend she hadn't heard about before now, but the sound of Adam calling for his mother ended that theory.
"'Mom'?" Bela repeated, looking at Sam in surprise as they heard Adam hurrying downstairs towards the voice. "I thought you said-"
"I did," Sam said grimly, grabbing his shotgun and hurrying for the source of the voice. Bela only paused long enough to make sure that Uriel's former blade was still in her jacket pocket before she hurried after the youngest Winchester. Arriving in the kitchen, the two found Adam staring in shock at a woman who was clearly his mother based on the pictures they'd seen in the house, wearing a nurse's uniform and holding her right side.
"Mom?" Adam said, grinning at her in relief as he walked towards her.
"It took me, but I got away-" Kate began.
"From what?" Bela asked, glaring at the other woman as she kept one hand in her jacket, ready to draw her weapon if the need arose.
"Get away from her," Sam said, drawing his gun to aim it at the woman.
"Sam, what the Hell?" Adam said, looking at his brother indignantly.
"She's not your mother!" Sam said firmly, before his gaze shifted to the woman. "Get away from him!"
"What is going on?" the thing that almost certainly wasn't Kate asked, looking at the two strangers in confusion.
"Adam, there was too much blood in the vents; your mother can't be alive!" Bela said, looking urgently at the young man; whatever her thoughts were on the issue of him hunting in the future, Adam didn't deserve to be killed by something posing as his mother…
Her thoughts were interrupted when Sam moved to shove Adam away from the woman, only for Adam to grab the shotgun from the Winchester before he realised what his younger brother was doing. For a moment, Bela was tensed to spring into action if Adam dropped the gun; she doubted he was ready to shoot something that looked like his mother, but if she could just-
"Adam, that's not your mother!" Sam yelled desperately amid the chaos of the Kate-thing's protests. "Shoot it! It's not human!"
As Adam came to a decision and aimed the gun at 'Kate', he suddenly smirked.
"I know," he said, spinning around to strike Sam on the chin with the butt of the gun, knocking him down for the count before levelling the gun at Bela. "By the way, you may know our… colleague?"
"Colleague?" Bela repeated, looking between Adam and the Kate-thing in confusion before another figure walked into the room, this one a tall man in a grey suit over a light blue shirt, looking at her with demonically-black eyes.
"Hello, Abby," the new arrival grinned at her, prompting Bela to freeze in horror even as her fingers tightened around Uriel's knife.
Her father…
She didn't even have time to wonder what was going on before he raised one hand at her and she was thrown into the wall behind her before she could start to draw the angel blade from her jacket, blackness taking her brain as soon as her head struck the wall.