Chapter 28
2012
"Dad…" Ben whispered, tears in his voice.
He quickly turned around to see his little boy standing in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot, looking anywhere but at him. "Hey buddy," Dean said, trying to smile, but failing. He quickly stood up and picked Ben up and held him close, carrying him back to the sofa. "Can't sleep?" Ben shook his head no and hid against his chest. "Ok buddy," Dean whispered, holding Ben closer. Bobby had just died, and his boys weren't sure how to react. This was the third night that Ben hadn't been able to sleep, and he hadn't seen Alec since they had gotten back to Rufus's cabin. He knew Alec was still in the little room that he and Ben were sharing only because Ben told him what Alec was doing, which was nothing. All Alec was doing was sleeping, and he didn't know what to do. "Did…did Alec take his pills today?" Dean asked, his throat tight from tears he was holding back.
"Yeah," Ben said.
"Was he awake more today?" Dean asked.
"No…"
"Ok…I'll try to talk to him again tomorrow," Dean said. Ben silently cried, but he fell asleep against him after a while. He held him all night, unsure what else he could do to help. He didn't even know how to get over Bobby's death himself, let alone get his boys through it. He picked Ben up once the sun started to come up and carefully tucked him back in bed, next to his brother. Alec didn't move when the bed shifted, so he walked around, and then sat down next to him. He brushed Alec's hair back and smiled when Alec's eyes slowly opened. "Hey kiddo," Dean whispered. Alec's eyes slowly closed again, so he asked, "You hungry? You want something to eat?" Alec shook his head no and turned so he could ignore him easier. "Ok…just let me know if you want something," Dean said. Alec didn't move at all, so he leaned over slightly and kissed the side of his head before he went back to the other room.
Sam was awake when he walked back into the main room and asked, "Did you get any sleep last night?"
"Maybe a couple hours," Dean lied.
"Ben couldn't sleep again?" Sam asked.
"Yeah…he can't sleep, and all Alec is willing to do is sleep," Dean muttered.
"Dean…they don't know how to deal with losing someone," Sam said. "Alec was there when Ellen and Jo died, but he didn't know how to deal with it then, and he barely knew them. Neither of them knew what to do when Rufus died, but Bobby was like a Grandpa to him, to both of them. I don't know how to get them through it except to be here for them…"
"Ben's making sure Alec eats at least a little bit every day and is taking his pills," Dean said, trying to ignore most of what Sam said. It hurt too much to think about losing Bobby.
Sam sighed, knowing he was refusing to talk about it, but said, "Ok, so, we'll keep trying to talk to him. Maybe try to get him to sleep out here instead of in there…"
"He doesn't want to talk," Dean said. "I can't force him to talk to me."
"Dean-"
"I'm gonna try to figure out what these numbers mean," Dean cut off.
"Ok," Sam said.
A week went by, but nothing changed. He didn't have any idea how to help his boys, he didn't know how to deal with Bobby's death, and he had no idea what the numbers meant.
"Hey buddy," Dean said when Ben walked into the kitchen area. His little boy looked like a zombie with dark circles under his eyes and the shuffling of his feet. Ben barely looked up at him before he reached for the coffee pot and poured himself a cup of coffee. He smiled, a real smile, which he hadn't done in days, and asked, "You sure you wanna try that?" Ben nodded like a bobblehead and took a sip of the hot drink. "How is it?"
"Good," Ben said, walking over to the living room to sit on the sofa.
"Y'know, that'll stunt your growth," Dean said. Ben shrugged, so he said, "Alright, just don't drink too much, ok? That stuff will give you as much energy as…" He trailed off before he could say that Ben would have as much energy as Alec, because Alec seemed to have no energy lately.
"I'm gonna go with Uncle Sam today," Ben said.
"What? Why?" Dean asked, trying not to sound panicked. But he didn't want either of his boys to leave this cabin. They weren't safe in the outside world. He couldn't protect them out there, but he could keep them safe if they stayed in the cabin.
"I…I want to go outside," Ben whispered. "I don't want to be around Alec right now…"
"Ben, I'm sorry," Dean said miserably. "I don't know what to do for him. I'm trying to think of a way to get him back to himself, but I've got nothing."
"I know," Ben said.
"Hey, you ready?" Sam asked, walking back into the cabin. Ben looked over at him before he looked back to Sam and nodded. "We're just gonna go to the store," Sam said to him. "We should only be gone for a little while."
He just nodded and turned away. He heard the door close, and then the Impala started from outside the cabin. He tried to work on figuring out the numbers again once they were gone, but he still had no idea what they could be, and all he could think about was Alec in the other room, just sleeping by himself. He managed to stay occupied for a total of 13 minutes before he walked over to the room the boys had been staying in. Alec was asleep, as usual, but he didn't walk around the bed to try to talk to him again. Instead, he kicked off his boots and got into bed next to Alec, pulling the covers over both of them.
He had planned on just holding Alec for a while to let him know that there was someone there with him, but he accidently fell asleep. He only sort of woke up when he heard the cabin door open and close, but he smiled slightly when he felt the familiar little heater against his side. Alec was snuggled against him, sleeping soundly.
"Dean?" Sam called out from the other room. He didn't answer since he knew Sam would be able to find them. It only took his brother a few seconds, and then the door was slowly being pushed open. "Hey," Sam whispered.
"Hey…"
He frowned a little when he saw that Sam was carrying Ben, but his brother shrugged and said, "Coffee can only get you so far before you crash. You want him?"
"Yeah," Dean said, smiling again.
Sam brought Ben over to him, and then he had both of his boys with him, snuggled up on either side of him. "Get some sleep, ok?" Sam asked.
"Yeah…ok," Dean whispered. He held both of his boys closer and fell asleep again.
"C'mon kiddo," Dean said, picking Alec up and walking back to the main room. Alec grumbled a little, and hid against his neck, so he rubbed his back as he walked. Thankfully, Alec wasn't sleeping as much as he had been, and he was actually willing to get out of bed. His little boy would stick as close to him as he could if he wasn't in bed, but it was an improvement.
"Uncle Sam, can I have some coffee?" Ben asked, following Sam around in the kitchen.
Sam chuckled, "No buddy, you've got too much energy as it is."
"No I don't," Ben argued. "Can't I just have one cup?"
"I think we need to cut off your supply," Sam said. "You've gotten addicted to that stuff."
"I really, really like it," Ben said.
He walked over to the sofa and sat down with Alec on his lap. "You ok with him having coffee?" Sam asked him.
"Yeah," Dean said. The boys didn't ask for much, so he wanted to give them what they wanted. Plus, they had just lost Bobby, so if a little coffee made Ben feel better, then he could have some coffee. "You want anything yet?" Dean asked Alec, gently brushing his hair back.
"No," Alec breathed.
"Ok, but you'll have to eat at some point," Dean said.
Ben walked over to the sofa with his coffee once he had it and sat down next to him. Ben snuggled against his side as he sipped the coffee, while Alec snuggled against his neck and fell asleep again.
"Dean…" Sam said, slowly walking over to sit in the chair. "I, um…I wonder if…if we…I mean, should we be telling people? I mean, people he knew."
"I think we should take a trip over to Frank," Dean said. He didn't want to talk about Bobby's death, especially to people he didn't know. "He's gotta know something by now. I gave him those numbers a while ago."
"Don't you think we should call Bobby's people?" Sam asked, refusing to let this go.
"Why is that our job?" Dean grumbled.
"Because who else is gonna do it?" Sam challenged.
"I'm not calling anybody," Dean said. "If you want to, you go right ahead."
"I don't want to call anybody. You kidding me?" Sam asked.
One of the phones in one of their duffle bags started ringing, and Sam looked to him to see if he was going to answer it. He scowled at his brother before he looked at his boys, who were all over him. "I'm not getting it," Dean muttered.
Sam huffed as he stood up, and then dug around in the bag to answer the phone. "Hello?" Sam asked. He held his boys closer, trying to decide if they should make the trip out to see Frank or not. He didn't really want to see the man again, but he really wanted to know what those numbers meant. "Uh, no. He's, uh…um, it's not…but I'm a friend of his," Sam said. Sam looked over at him and shrugged. "He's…not here, but, look, if you need s-"
"Who was it?" Dean asked when Sam dropped the phone from his ear.
"Just some kid," Sam said.
"For Bobby?" Dean asked, figuring out that's why his brother was stumbling around, stuttering like he'd forgotten how to talk. "Girl scout cookies?" He stood up with Alec, looking back at Ben to make sure he was ok, and he nodded back to him.
"I think maybe…" Sam muttered in thought. "Maybe a-a hunter's kid? I mean, she sounded pretty scared. You know, I have a caller ID. Maybe we should go find her. We-we can check on her."
"What about Frank?" Dean asked.
"Well, Dean, I think we should go find this girl first," Sam insisted.
"Sam, Frank's been working on the numbers that Bobby spent his last breath on, and you want to back-burner that?" Dean asked. Sam just looked at him, so he walked over to the table to drink the beer he'd left out the night before. "Fine. You go check out girl scout. I'll find Frank."
"Fine," Sam said. "But you know what? On one condition. If Frank is just spinning his wheels, then you bail out on crazy and come meet me."
He ignored his brother's request, and instead complained, "And thanks for drinking my entire beer."
"I didn't touch your beer," Sam said. "Do you want the boys to split up, or both of them go with you?"
"Alec's comin' with me no matter what," Dean said. He looked over at Ben and asked, "Buddy, you wanna go with me or Uncle Sam."
"Uncle Sam," Ben said. "I don't really like Frank…"
He took a deep breath and let it out before he nodded, "Ok, but you stay with Uncle Sam, ok? No running off without him and if he says no coffee, then that means no coffee, ok?"
"Ok," Ben said.
He knocked on the apartment door while he held Ben's hand with his other. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew they needed to help if they could. And maybe this would help Ben find a way to deal with Bobby's death. He still didn't know how they were going to talk to Alec, but maybe Dean would find a way to talk to him on their trip. He wished they would have all stayed together but Dean needed to figure out those numbers.
"Hello?" Sam called out when he heard some movement on the other side of the door. "Um, we…spoke on the phone earlier?" Maybe if whoever he talked to earlier didn't answer the door, then he could catch up with Dean and Alec a lot faster than he thought he would. But the door opened a crack, stopped by a chain that was still on the door. "Hi," Sam said. "Uh…I'm Sam and this is my nephew, Ben. You sounded like you needed help, and we were in the area."
"How'd you find me?" A girl asked suspiciously.
"Your Dad is in Bobby's address book," Sam said.
"So, where is he?" she asked.
"Bobby? He, uh…" he looked down at Ben, who gripped his hand a little tighter. "He's passed away. Look, um-"
"Krissy," she cut in.
"Krissy," he said. "I get it. You don't let strangers in. But if your Dad said you could trust Bobby, then you can trust me too."
The door shut, but he could hear her undoing the chain before the door was opened again. "Just so you know, 911's on speed-dial. One button," she warned.
"Yeah, sure," Sam said. "Note taken."
"So…you're a salesman too?" Krissy asked.
"Yep," Sam said easily. He was a little surprised that she didn't know what her Dad did, but he understood not wanting her to know. He hadn't wanted Alec to hunt with them, and he still didn't want the boys to hunt, but he didn't really have much of a choice. If they didn't bring them along, then they would find their own trouble, which was worse. At least if they brought the boys with them, then they knew where they were and could watch out for them. "So, your Dad's on the road right now? Been gone for a while?" Sam asked.
"He usually calls every night," Krissy said.
Ben and Alec were 11 now, and he knew they could take care of themselves, but he couldn't imagine leaving them somewhere while he and Dean went on an extended hunt. He hated it when his Dad did that to him and Dean, so even though he didn't want the boys hunting, he couldn't drop them off somewhere either. "How long has it been?" Sam asked.
"Five days," Krissy said. Dean would be a nervous wreck if they left the boys alone for five days.
"It's just you and him, huh?" Sam guessed. She nodded, so he said, "Look, um…Sometimes on the road, crap happens. So, I'll help you track him down."
"Really?" Krissy asked, surprised.
"'Course," Sam said. "Did he happen to say where he was going?"
"Said he had a couple leads near Dodge City," Krissy said.
"And does he have a desk or something where he keeps his stuff?" Sam asked. Krissy started for another room, and he followed her, keeping hold of Ben's hand. The boys usually wouldn't let them hold their hands anymore unless they were really scared about something or were in one of their moods. He would think it was weird that Ben hadn't said anything yet, but Ben didn't usually talk very much. If Alec had been with him, then he would be worried, but Ben was usually a pretty quiet kid.
Krissy brought them to what looked like an office. He wanted to look around without Krissy since she didn't know about hunting, but he didn't know how to get her to leave them alone in here. He looked down at Ben, and then looked back at Krissy and asked, "Would you mind getting him something to drink?
"Sure, what do you want?" Krissy asked Ben.
"Coffee. Black," Ben stated without even having to think about it.
Krissy gave him a funny look, so he quickly said, "He'll have water." It was almost impossible not to laugh, or at least smile, at the matter-of-fact way that Ben asked for coffee.
"Why can't I have coffee?" Ben asked as Krissy left the room.
"Because I said so," Sam said even though he hated that answer. He quickly walked over to the desk, but he didn't find anything related to hunting in his desk, so he moved to the closet.
"It won't take her very long to make me water," Ben grumbled. He sighed since Ben was right. Luckily, he'd already found what he'd been looking for. Behind the clothes there was a board with weapons hanging on either side. There were missing person notices all over the board, but he mainly looked at an article titled 'Monsters in our Midst' and 'Trucker Missing, Rig Found in Ditch'.
"You can have coffee later," Sam said, grabbing Ben's hand again. "Or not at all. You shouldn't drink coffee. You're only 11."
"I'm very mature for my age," Ben stated. "I could see Alec not needing coffee. He's a pain without adding more energy, but I'm not."
"You can be," Sam said. He led Ben back into the kitchen where Krissy was. "Hey, listen," he said to get her attention. "So, I think I got an idea where to start. So we're gonna go. Um…Can I borrow this?" He held up the picture of Krissy and her Dad that he'd taken from the desk.
"Yeah," Krissy said with a shrug.
He was glad he hadn't let Krissy make any coffee since they were only here for a few minutes. He handed Krissy a card with Dean's number on it and said, "Here. Here's a number in case you don't hear from me in the next couple days. Don't worry. I promise I'll check in."
"Don't say that," Krissy said. "That's what my Dad said."
He wanted to reassure her that he was going to make sure that didn't happen, but he couldn't. He just nodded and walked back out with Ben next to him.
No bribe was working to get Alec out of his funk. He'd gotten junk food, which Alec picked at, he blared the music, which Alec ignored, and he even let Alec sit up front with him, but his little boy didn't lean against him or anything. He did manage to make Alec laugh at one point when he'd accidentally spilled a big glob of ketchup down his shirt. He didn't even care about the mess since Alec's giggle had made a short appearance.
He slowly pulled up to Frank's place even though he knew Alec didn't really like the man. Alec followed him out on his side and stuck as close to him as he could. He drew his gun once he got closer since he had a bad feeling about this. Alec had his gun out too, and as much as he had never wanted Alec or Ben to carry guns, he did feel better that Alec was going to be able to protect himself if something happened. And it was a good sign that Alec cared enough to get his gun out. He hated putting his boys in danger, but if this got Alec out of his depression, then as long as they both came out alright, then it was ok.
"This can't be good," Dean whispered as they made their way into the house. It was cluttered, but empty. He didn't see any sign of Frank, which definitely wasn't good. He quickly pulled Alec behind him when a gun cocked, and at the same time, he spun around and raised his own gun. "Well…hi," he said when he saw that it was Frank pointing a shotgun at them. "Frank…we're amongst friends here," Dean said when Frank didn't lower his gun. "Ok…acquaintances."
"That's just what a Leviathan would say," Frank said.
He rolled his eyes because, seriously, this guy was way too paranoid. "Frank. I'm not a Leviathan," Dean stated.
"Oh, sure," Frank said sarcastically. "You're not a Leviathan. Dick Roman's not a Leviathan. Gwyneth Paltrow is not a Leviathan."
"Yeah?" he asked, surprised.
"Trust me," Frank said.
"Ok," Dean said. "You know what, Frank? I think you've been doing a little too much research."
"They're anywhere, anyone," Frank said. "Who's to say this ain't the day they come for old Frank who knew too much?"
"I'd kill him if I was a Leviathan," Alec muttered behind him.
He internally groaned since of course the time that Alec finally spoke, he would say something like that. "They bleed black goo, right?" Dean asked before Frank could decide that shooting them would be the safest play he could make. "You want to see what I bleed?" Frank shifted his aim to his foot, so he quickly yelled, "Oh! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's take the guns out of it, ok?" He reached behind him and pushed down on Alec's gun to mess up his aim in case he decided he was in too much danger and shot Frank.
"Ok," Frank finally agreed after a few tense seconds.
He sighed and put his gun down on the closest counter and pulled out his switchblade. He cut his forearm and said, "See? Red-blooded American." Frank slowly lowered his gun a little but looked at Alec suspiciously. "Don't even think about it," he growled. Frank lowered his gun the rest of the way, and then held out the knife for Frank to take. "Now, your turn."
"Oh! Whoa. Look, I'm obviously not-"
"Fair's fair, douchebag," Dean growled.
"The little Leviathan didn't have to prove it," Frank said.
"I'm not a Leviathan," Alec said. "I'm Alec. You've already met me before, weirdo."
"And I said he's out of it," Dean said. Frank finally took the knife and made the smallest cut on his palm that he could before he handed the knife back. "I'm glad we could share that together," he muttered sarcastically.
"Grab your gun, come with me," Frank said. "For God's sake, don't make any noise.
He rolled his eyes but grabbed Alec's hand and followed Frank. They went to a barn with a trailer inside of it, which was smaller and more cramped than Frank's house. "Why the downsize?" he asked as he maneuvered himself to a folding chair, and then reached for Alec since there was nowhere else to sit. Alec leaned against him once he was sitting on his lap, and he wasn't sure if his little boy was going to fall asleep again or not.
"You! 'Hey, Frank, go dig up some dirt on Richard Roman.' That night, I was burned off every IP I had. Ears on my phones, eyes on my house…" Frank said, sitting down at the computer.
"Wait…Dick's got people watching you?" Dean asked.
"Do I look like I know?" Frank asked back.
"Paranoid weirdo," Alec muttered under his breath.
"You think it's easy to see this deep into what's real and also be bipolar with delusional ideation?" Frank said. He either hadn't heard Alec or he was ignoring him. He hoped he was just ignoring him since he didn't want Frank to blow up on Alec. "There is no pill for my situation, sweetiepop, so, yeah, best guess…the bigmouths are onto me. Next question."
"Alright. Well, what's the word on the bigmouths?" Dean asked.
"Their tentacles are everywhere. I'm looking at bankers, military high-ups," Frank said, trailing off.
"This is why you didn't call me back," he stated, annoyed.
"Hey, cut me some slack. You called me like four days ago," Frank said.
"I call you four weeks ago, Frank," he said with a sigh.
"What? No. Really?" Frank asked, thinking about it before he shrugged. "Days, weeks…quit busting my chops."
"What, are you kidding me?" Dean growled.
"You cool your heels, Buster Brown," Frank said.
"Frank, I paid you 15 grand for this," he said.
"Where did you get 15 grand?" Alec asked. He ignored Alec's question since he didn't want to answer it. He should've just used that money on his boys instead of paying Frank to do nothing. He should have known Frank wasn't going to be any help.
"Yeah, I get that-"
"No, you don't get that!" he yelled. "Dick Roman is every card in my hit deck. You understand that? Those numbers, they got something to do with him, ok? Bobby died for those numbers."
"Look, I'm sorry about Bobby. I really am," Frank said. "You know, this one time, we were in Fresno, and we got stuck-"
"No. No, no, no. I'm not gonna play 'this one time with Bobby' crap, alright?" Dean snapped. Alec was sitting frozen on his lap, like it was taking everything he had not to break down right then. "I'm not gonna get all warm and fuzzy with somebody else who barely knew him."
"Just trying to make friendly conversation," Frank muttered.
"This is not a friendship, Frank. I'm paying you!" he said.
"Hey. You know what you need? A little LSD, a little shiatsu-"
"I'm out of here," he said, standing up with Alec held against himself.
"Hey, you want to know what those numbers are?" Frank asked, stopping him. "Bupkis. They're not lottery numbers, license-"
"I know that, Frank. Thank you," he said. He wasn't an idiot; he could do research on his own. He only went to Frank because he'd tried everything that he could think of.
"Which leaves us little else to do but probability generate," Frank said.
"Come again?" he asked. He sighed and slowly sat down again since Frank might actually do something.
"You run most reasonable possibilities for a Levi-related five-digit number written by a dying drunk, you come up flat. Know what you start to wonder? 'Hey, maybe I'm missing a number.'" Frank said.
"Well, how do you figure?" Dean asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Because Bobby was dying of brain trauma. I just had a tickle there was a reason nothing was popping out at us, so I set up a program to run possibilities for six numbers, seven, eight. But good news," Frank said.
"Good news?" he asked, wishing Frank would just get on with it.
"Dad…can I go wait in the car," Alec whispered to him.
"Not right now, kiddo," he said. He wasn't going to let Alec out of his sight, even though he could tell Alec wanted to be alone or sleeping right now. He ran his hand through Alec's hair and held him closer to try to help however he could.
"Never had to go past six, because this…" Frank said, acting like he and Alec hadn't said anything. He typed in '454893' in the computer and continued, "…my little lamb, is coordinates."
"You sure? To what?" he asked.
"A field in Wisconsin," Frank said.
"That's helpful," Alec said sarcastically.
"No. No, Bobby didn't give us coordinates to some patch of weeds in Cheeseville," he said.
"No, he gave you coordinates to a parcel recently purchased by Willman, Inc., a subsidiary of…Richard Roman Enterprises," Frank said smugly.
"So, what do we do?" he asked.
"Stay away," Frank stated. "Or, if we're stupid…we go there and set up surveillance."
He smiled a little and kissed the side of Alec's head. They finally had a lead, even though it wasn't a very good lead, but at least they knew what the numbers meant. Frank was still nuts, but they could set up some surveillance and figure out what was going on.
He left Frank to pack up whatever they needed and carried Alec outside of the barn before he got his phone out. "You wanna talk to Ben?" he asked Alec, but Alec just shrugged back, so he dialed Sam's number. He wanted to check up on them, and make sure Ben was ok before they went anywhere.
"Hey, find Frank?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Those numbers? Coordinates. Dick bought some land. We're headed there now," Dean said.
"Wait, wait, wait. You're just gonna drive right up to-"
"Relax. It's in a field, not the Death Star. Dick's at a TED Conference. It's all over The Huffington Post," Dean said.
"Wait, wait, wait. Since when do you read?" Sam asked.
He rolled his eyes, "Know your enemy, Sam. What's going on with the girl? How's Ben?"
"I don't think she even knows her Dad's in the life. So far, I got three missing truckers and one blood-free body," Sam said. "And Ben's right here. You wanna talk to him?"
"Yeah, put him on," Dean said.
"Hi Dad," Ben said.
He smiled, "Hey buddy, how's hunting with your Uncle? You two having fun?"
"I guess so," Ben said. "He won't let me have any coffee, and I didn't get to go into the morgue."
"I'll let you go in the morgue on the next hunt," he said.
"When are you coming back?" Ben asked.
"I'm gonna check out these coordinates, and then we'll see," Dean said. "You and Uncle Sam will probably be done with that hunt before I'm done here anyway, so you'll probably come here next."
Ben groaned, "I don't like Frank."
"Neither does your brother, but he's helpin' us figure out these numbers, so even though he's crazy, he's trying to help," he said.
"Dad…"
"Yeah buddy?"
"I miss Bobby," Ben whispered.
"I miss him too," Dean said. Alec wrapped his arms around him and hid against his neck. "We'll see each other again soon, ok buddy?"
"Ok," Ben said.
"Call me if you need anything, ok?" Dean said.
"Ok," Ben said before he hung up.
He sighed as Frank came back from the trailer with what looked like a uniform. This was going to be more work than he thought.
He paced the motel room since Uncle Sam wouldn't let him go with him to the diner. He wanted his family to be all together again, and he wanted Uncle Sam to hurry up and get back. He didn't like not knowing what was going on. And it had been a while, so he was worried that something was wrong.
He wished Alec was here. His brother wouldn't be willing to wait around. He'd go out and figure out what was going on for himself. At least, he would have if he was here and if he was feeling like himself. Alec hardly said a word to him since Bobby had died. He wished he knew how to help his brother, but he didn't know what Alec needed.
He thought about going to the diner that Uncle Sam was going to go to, but he knew Uncle Sam would get mad it he saw him there. He just wanted to make sure Uncle Sam was ok. He wished Dad would have come with them. Dad would be backing Uncle Sam up, and then he wouldn't have to worry so much. Maybe he should call Dad.
He decided he should at least call Dad and see what he should do, but it seemed like the phone rang forever. He was just about to give up when someone answered. "Uncle Sam?" Alec asked, sounding sleepy.
"Alec? Where's Dad?" Ben asked.
"Where's Uncle Sam?" Alec shot back, sounding more awake now.
"I wanna talk to Dad," Ben said.
"Dad's sleeping," Alec said.
"I need to talk to him," Ben said.
"About what?" Alec asked.
"Uncle Sam went to go check out this diner and he's not back yet," Ben said.
"So, go find him," Alec said.
"Alec," he said with a sigh.
He imagined Alec was rolling his eyes right about now. "You're right. That's a terrible idea. You should just wait in the room and Uncle Sam will come back soon," Alec said.
"You're just saying that," Ben muttered.
"Dad's sleeping…I don't wanna wake him up 'cause he hasn't been sleeping much," Alec said, giving him a better answer why he couldn't talk to Dad right now.
"Did you guys find anything at the coordinates?" Ben asked.
"I don't know…Dad let me stay in the car, so I did," Alec said. His brother was quiet for a few seconds, but then he heard him sniffle.
"Alec?" he asked softly.
"I can wake Dad up," Alec said. "It's been a long time and Frank's creeping me out anyway…"
"I'll call again in a little bit," Ben said. "You should let Dad sleep."
"I'll tell him to call you once he wakes up," Alec said.
"Ok, if Uncle Sam's not back soon, I'll call before Dad wakes up," Ben said.
"I'm gonna try to bug Frank," Alec said.
He smiled since Alec was trying to act like himself again even though he didn't exactly sound like himself yet. "Try not to get yourself shot," Ben said.
"It's like you don't even know me," Alec said, and this time he did sound like himself.
"Don't antagonize Frank," Ben said.
"Don't wait too long to call back," Alec said seriously.
"I won't," he said. He let Alec hang up first, and then he started pacing again.
He woke up, but he still felt tired. He hated being around Frank, he hated going to that stupid field and doing what Frank said, and he hated that Alec hadn't even wanted to get out of the car. In what world did Alec refuse to get out of the car? He couldn't get Alec to stay in the car to save his life most of the time, but now he didn't want to do anything.
Alec was curled up in his lap right now, sleeping against his chest. The worst part was that Alec would've really liked hanging out in the cherry picker. He would've pressed all the buttons, making them go up and down until he would practically throw up, and then he'd laugh like a crazy person, finding his upset stomach hilarious.
He ran his hand through Alec's hair and kissed the top of his head. "How long was I out?" he asked after a moment, looking up at Frank who was staring at four computer screens, all different angles of the field.
"'Bout 36 hours," Frank said.
"What? Why didn't you wake me?" he grumbled. He shook Alec's shoulder, and his little boy slowly started to wake up.
"Not your butler," Frank said. "Come see this."
"What?" he asked.
"This is where it gets good," Frank said. Frank zoomed in on one of the cameras where a car was parked, and two people were kissing. He quickly covered Alec's eyes, and his little boy immediately tried to pull his hand away to see what was going on.
"Frank, you need to get out more," he muttered.
"Not that," Frank said, moving the focus to another woman who was walking across the field. She was carrying something that looked like folders, and maybe a walkie-talkie. "Check out Sarah Palin," Frank said.
"Who is she?" Alec asked.
"Sarah Palin is from-"
"Not Sarah Palin, Frank," he said with a sigh. "The lady on the camera."
"Amanda Willer," Frank said. Frank hit another button and pulled up her driver's license and a security pass for Richard Roman Enterprises. "Surprise, surprise…works for Richard Roman," Frank said.
Three guys in uniforms walked towards Amanda, so he asked, "What was she doing?"
"Being a naughty, bossy little girl," Frank said.
"Dude, non-porno version," He said with a scowl. "Little ears."
"My ears aren't little," Alec said.
"Yeah, they are," Dean said, covering Alec's ears with both of his hands. Alec pulled his hands away but leaned back against his chest and smiled at him just a little bit. He ran his hand through Alec's hair and smiled back.
"They're surveying," Frank said. "They're getting ready to build something."
"What?" Alec asked.
"Exactly," Frank said.
Alec rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath, "Unhelpful weirdo."
"No idea," Frank said.
"Well, how do we find out?" Dean asked. The guys on the camera were spreading out in the field, getting ready to do whatever it was that they were doing.
"We watch," Frank said. "Patience, grasshopper."
Alec groaned dramatically, "I'm bored."
"Yeah, patience ain't really our thing," he said.
"Well, then go out and kill something or whatever you kids do to blow off steam," Frank said. "What, you don't like my suggestion?"
"I don't think you're in a position to be giving suggestions, alright? I think you're one tinfoil hat away from a rubber room," Dean said.
"I think he's already there," Alec muttered.
"Did I mention you look awful," Frank said.
He avoided mentioning Bobby since Alec was with him, but seriously, Frank was an idiot and he was tired of him. "This is like shoving a rock up a hill. So screw you."
"Here's my advice you didn't ask for," Frank said. "Quit."
"What?!" he asked. He didn't do normal and neither did Alec. The last time they had tried to be normal…He couldn't even think about it. There was no quitting for them.
"You want to keep going?" Frank asked.
"I want Dick Roman on a spit," he said.
"But you're gonna drive yourself into the ground first. Good plan," Frank said.
"I'm not gonna quit. It's not even an option," Dean said. He felt Alec relax slightly against him again, so he knew his kid had been afraid that he was thinking about it.
"Ok then, fine. Do what I did," Frank said.
"Go nuts?" Alec asked.
"No, cupcake," Frank said. He pulled Alec closer since his kid had a low growl going, and even though he didn't like Frank, he didn't want Alec attacking the guy. "What I did when I was 26 and came home to find my wife and two kids gutted on the floor. Decide to be fine till the end of the week. Make yourself smile because you're alive and that's your job. Then do it again the next week."
"So fake it?" he asked. This was so not good advice around Alec, but he thought maybe he could pretend to be ok. He needed to be ok for his boys.
"I call it being professional," Frank said. "Do it right, with a smile, or don't do it."
His phone suddenly buzzed, so he got it out of his pocket and saw he had a voicemail. "Dean, hey," Sam said on the message. "So I think this guy was hunting a Vetala. Um, Dad took one down back in the day."
"No, no, no. Sam, that's not right," he muttered.
"What's the guff?" Frank asked.
"Says they're maladjusted loner types…like to knock a guy out, drag him home," Sam continued on the message.
He looked down and saw that he had another call coming in from Ben's number. "Ben?"
"No. Who's this?" A girl asked on the other end.
"That's my Dad. I already told you this," Ben said in the background.
"Who's this?" he growled. And why wasn't Ben the one calling him?
"Give me my phone back," Ben said.
"You broke into my apartment, remember?" the girl asked Ben.
"You wouldn't answer the door," Ben growled back. There was what sounded like a struggled, and then Ben said, "Dad, Uncle Sam's in trouble."
"Alright. Stay there, we're on our way," Dean said.
"You got your ass kicked by a girl," Alec teased once he and Dad had finally gotten to Ben. He'd immediately hugged his brother, but then he had to tease him because that was just too girly of a moment, even if he had been concerned about his brother.
"Dad said we shouldn't fight unless we had to," Ben said.
"You let her take your phone," he said. "Pretty sloppy if you ask me."
"I didn't ask you," Ben pointed out.
"Who's the chick?" he asked.
"Her name's Krissy," Ben said.
"Did Sam tell you where he was going?" Krissy asked them, walking over to them as Dad looked around the little apartment.
"He was at a diner, but he wouldn't tell me where," Ben said.
"What all did he do while he was here?" Dad asked Ben.
"He checked my Dad's room," Krissy said before Ben couldn't answer. Ben glared at her, and he smirked since Ben cracked him up sometimes.
"There?" Dad asked, pointing to another room. Krissy nodded, so they all walked to the other room. Dad kind of looked around the room, but then he looked at them and nodded for them to do something. He frowned since he wasn't sure what Dad wanted. Dad looked at them, and then at Krissy, and then at them again.
"No thanks," he said, finally figuring out that Dad wanted them to distract Krissy. "I wanna know what's going on too."
"You wanted them to try to distract me?" Krissy asked. "I only want to know what happened to my Dad."
"Look, I really don't have time to hold your hand here, so…" Dad said, trailing off.
"What are you saying?" Krissy asked.
"I'm saying go wait in the living room," Dad said. "Your Dad may not want you to know every single thing about him." Krissy just leaned against the doorway and refused to move. Dad rolled his eyes and opened the closet to look inside. "Where is it?" Dad asked.
"You mean everything about the job my Dad was working?" Krissy asked.
"I thought you didn't know," Dad said.
"Sam seemed competent, so I figured fine…I'll do what my Dad always tells me to," Krissy said. "'Be a regular kid, don't say anything, stay out of the line of fire. Let the adults work it out.' So much for that."
"Hey, we're professionals," Alec stated.
"You're what? 9?" Krissy asked him.
"I'll have you know that I'm 11 now," he said.
"Alright," Dad said to break it up. "Hand it over. Ok? I've had a long, long week."
Krissy pulled a gun suddenly, and he and Ben blurred at the same time to try to get it away from her, but unfortunately, they didn't realize that they both had the same idea, so they ran into each other and fell back on their butts. "Great, now we look incompetent," he grumbled.
"What did I say about putting yourselves in danger?" Dad asked.
"She's pointing a gun at you," Ben said. "That's not ok."
"Look, we're just trying to get Sam and your Dad back," Dad said to Krissy as he and Ben helped each other up.
"My Dad left, and he didn't come back," Krissy said. "Sam left, and he didn't come back. I give you the info, you leave, you don't come back."
"I'm coming back," Dad said.
"I'm coming with you," Krissy stated.
"Y'know, this is some good info for later," he whispered to Ben. "For when Dad says we can't go on a hunt with him."
"You want to point a gun at Dad?!" Ben asked, acting like that was the worst thing he had ever said, which, for the record, wasn't anywhere close to the worst thing he'd ever said.
"No. Hell, no," Dad said. "I already have two kids that I watch out for, I'm not adding you to the list."
"You're letting those two go with you?!" Krissy asked incredulously.
"They're my kids," Dad said.
"And we're actually experienced in hunting," Alec said.
"I'm coming! Or you're not going," Krissy said. Dad moved before he could and easily grabbed the gun out of Krissy's hand. "Ow!"
"Now hand it over," Dad said.
"I can't. I burned it," Krissy said.
"Smart," he whispered to Ben.
"You what?" Dad asked.
"But lucky for you, I memorized it all first," Krissy said.
"She's good," he said. "I'll let it go that she kicked your ass."
"She didn't kick my ass," Ben argued.
Dad ran his hand down his face, but then said, "Alright. Let's go, we're wasting daylight."
"Shotgun!" he yelled.
"No. You two get the backseat," Dad said.
"What?" he and Ben whined at the same time.
"Car. Now," Dad said.
He and Ben reluctantly sat in the backseat like Dad had said. He felt the dark hopelessness start to creep in again, but he tried to ignore it. He didn't like Frank, but he kind of liked the idea of pretending everything was ok. Maybe Dad would stop asking him if he was ok if he pretended that he was fine. But when no one was talking, it was harder to pretend. Bobby was dead. And he wasn't coming back. He kept forgetting that he was gone, but as soon as he remembered, he felt completely hopeless again.
He jumped when Ben put his hand on his shoulder, but then he smiled a little to try to prove that he was ok again. But Ben was still looking at him with concern, so he knew he wasn't doing a very good job. He sighed and decided that he would just have to try harder to convince Ben.
"Hey, I have a question," Krissy said to break the silence. He didn't really like this girl, but at least she broke the silence. Riding without even music really sucked.
"Alright, here's the deal," Dad said. "I'm a fun guy. I'm actually awesome, you can ask the boys."
"Dad's awesome," he and Ben said at the same time.
"That creepy twin thing needs to stop," Krissy said, looking back at them.
"Look, right now, I'm not in the mood," Dad said. "I'm neck deep in some serious crap, and if this wasn't an emergency, I would drop your ass off at the nearest mall."
"What serious crap?" Krissy asked.
"None of your business," he growled.
"Revenge crap, alright," Dad said since Krissy was still looking at him expectantly. "Now shut up. Eat a cookie or something."
"We have cookies?" he whispered to Ben.
"I don't think so…" Ben said, looking around the backseat. He was pretty sure Uncle Sam had cleaned out all of the cookies.
"One thing doesn't make sense though," Krissy said. "My Dad's a pretty great hunter, and your brother's the size of a car, so…So how'd this thing get 'em both?"
"Vetalas usually hunt in pairs. Sam and your Dad both assumed it was one thing hunting solo," Dad said.
"Why'd they think that?" Krissy asked.
"Because they had the wrong info. Or, best available," Dad said. "Our Dad took down a loner years ago. Sam has his journal. Your Dad must've been going on the same facts."
"How come you know there are two if John's journal says there's only one?" Ben asked curiously.
"I hunted one that turned out to be two a couple years back," Dad said.
"Where was I?" he asked. "If I was just a couple years, then I would've been around and so would Uncle Sam."
"Before you, kiddo," Dad said. "I should've said it was more than a couple since it was before me and Uncle Sammy were hunting again."
"Oh," he said, but then asked, "Then where was John? Didn't you hunt with John before you hunted with Uncle Sam again?"
"Well, I went on some hunts by myself back then," Dad said.
"And you never told Sam?" Krissy demanded. "Wow, thanks. How 'bout sharing that with the rest of the class so we don't all get killed."
"Where was Uncle Sam?" Ben asked, not knowing that Uncle Sam had gone to college like he did.
"Uncle Sam was at Stanford," Dad said.
"Sam went to college?" Krissy asked, surprised. "But he's a hunter, and so are you and your creepy twins."
"We're not creepy," he and Ben said at the same time again. They should probably quit doing that for a while, but it wasn't like he planned on saying the same thing as Ben. He just couldn't help it.
"Sam quit, went to college," Dad said. "You could too, y'know…go to college. You don't have to be a hunter. Or you could do both."
"Why aren't you running this spiel for those two?" Krissy asked, pointing at him and Ben.
"They already know they have choices," Dad said. "They want to hunt, but Sam's homeschooling them at the same time." Dad parked in front of a diner, and for a second he thought it was awesome since he was hungry, but then he realized this must be the place where Uncle Sam had disappeared. "You ever actually work with your Dad?" Dad asked Krissy.
"Sure. 'Course," Krissy said. He rolled his eyes; she was a bad liar. She'd never been on a hunt before.
"No, I mean work, not shoot cans in the woods," Dad said, also knowing that she was lying.
"I mean, I help all the time," Krissy said.
"So, no," Dad stated. "Well, right about now, your stomach should be pretty knotted up."
"Not really," Krissy said.
He huffed in disbelief, "Everyone's nervous on their first real hunt."
"So you were scared on your first hunt?" Krissy teased.
"At least I've been on a hunt!" he shot back.
"Hey, tone it down a bit, kiddo," Dad said, reaching back to ruffle his hair. Dad turned back around and shrugged at Krissy, "I hate to break it to you, but it's all over your face. You're scared."
"Quit treating me like I'm some girl," Krissy said.
"But you are a girl," Ben pointed out. He held up his fist for Ben, who immediately gave him a fist-bump with a big smile.
"I've been prepping for this my entire life," Krissy said, acting like Ben hadn't said anything.
"Training's one thing. Doing…whole 'nother beast," Dad said.
"Wow. You really scared me straight. Thanks, Dean," Krissy replied sarcastically.
"There's a waitress getting into that truck over there," Ben whispered to him.
"Dad, Ben says there's a waitress getting into a truck," Alec said.
"That's not really somethin' you boys need to know about yet," Dad said.
"She's getting in the front of the truck, not the back, Dean," Krissy said with an exaggerated sigh.
"Ok…that might be something," Dad admitted.
Dad followed the truck, staying far enough back that it wasn't obvious that they were following it. No one really said anything though, and that was going to start being a problem soon. He didn't want to think about things. He just wanted to focus on the hunt.
But it wasn't really working. He couldn't pretend that everything was fine if no one was talking. Luckily, Dad turned on the music, so at least that helped a little, but it still wasn't enough. Bobby was really gone, and he wasn't coming back. If he was coming back, like Dad and Uncle Sam had, then he would've been back already. The Leviathans got him, and now Dad wanted to kill all of them, which meant he could lose his Dad. He couldn't lose Bobby, or Uncle Sam, or Dad, or Ben. Why did monsters have to be such assholes?
The truck finally parked, and the waitress walked into the building that she had parked next to. Dad parked too, but he parked out of the way, so she wouldn't see them.
Dad held up his fist for Krissy to fist-bump once he was parked, but she just looked at him. "What century is this?" Krissy asked. "No one fist-bumps anymore."
"Yes they do!" Ben said at the same time that he said, "Fist-bumps are cool!"
"C'mon. Give it up," Dad said, wiggling his fist. "Good work."
"You're a dweeb," Krissy said, shaking her head. Dad shook his fist again, until she finally sighed and put up her hand. He laughed when Dad suddenly slapped handcuffs onto her wrist. "What the hell?" Krissy exclaimed.
"I got an idea," Dad said. Dad cuffed the other end to the steering wheel, which just made him laugh more. "How 'bout you stay here?"
"Oh, you jackass," Krissy growled.
"Yeah, well, I'm the jackass who ain't bringing a kid in there, period," Dad said.
"Except for us, right Dad?" Alec asked.
Dad hesitated for a second, but then said, "Yeah, alright, you two can come."
"You're gonna bring them?! I'm older than them!" Krissy said.
"Just by a couple years!" he argued.
"And we've actually been on a hunt before," Ben added on.
"I can do everything you can do," Krissy stated.
"I highly doubt that," he said with a smirk. He bet she couldn't blur like he could.
"Alec, tone it down again, kiddo," Dad said before he reassured Krissy, "We'll bring them back. Trust me."
"Please, they're probably dead," Krissy said.
"Don't say that!" Ben yelled. He had to pull his brother away so he couldn't do something, like pull Krissy's hair or something.
"You don't know that," Dad said, reaching over the bench seat to also hold Ben back.
Krissy obviously didn't realize the danger she was in because she just didn't know when to stop. "It's been days. Probably just a pile of meat," Krissy said. "I've seen it. People die, Dean. I watched my Mom get torn to shreds. Let me go in there and kill them."
"No. Sorry," Dad said.
"You're such a hypocrite. How come they get to do it and I don't?" Krissy asked, looking back at them.
"Because they know what they're doing," Dad said. Dad thought for a moment, and then held out his hand, "Give it to me."
"What?" Krissy asked.
"Don't play dumb," he said.
"Your lock pick," Dad said before Krissy could say anything to him. "I will frisk you." Krissy finally passed it over, so Dad said, "Thank you," and then got out of the car. He and Ben quickly followed, grabbing their gear from the trunk before the three of them walked up to the building. "You two need to do exactly what I say," Dad said as he picked the lock to the door.
"Ok," he and Ben replied at the same time.
They stayed behind Dad as the three of them snuck into the main part of the building. He felt panic squeeze his chest when he saw his Uncle unconscious and tied to a chair. He couldn't lose anyone else. Uncle Sam had to be ok.
"Good thing we picked up a new one," one of the monster girls said, standing over one of their victims. "This one's about tapped out. You want to finish him together?"
"Sure. Love to," the other girl said.
Dad didn't wait, he just grabbed a metal bar and ran in, hitting one of the monsters, who fell to the ground. He and Ben rushed in when the other monster came at Dad. Ben got there first and swung his knife at the girl, but she jumped out of the way, and then kicked at Ben. His brother dodged back, so he ran in and tried his own hand at taking out the monster.
"Dad, hold on," Krissy suddenly said, running into the room.
He automatically looked over at Krissy, which gave the monster the chance to hit him hard, knocking him into the wall that was a few feet away.
"No!" the guy who was tied up next to Uncle Sam yelled when the monster that Dad had knocked down grabbed Krissy. The monster held Krissy in front of her, but then he saw that Dad had the other monster held hostage. He must have gotten there right when the monster had knocked him off his feet.
"Let her go…or Little Miss Sunshine here gets it," the monster holding Krissy snarled, showing her fangs.
Dad reluctantly let his monster go, and she ran over to stand where Krissy was being held behind Uncle Sam and Krissy's Dad.
"What were you thinking, bringing her here," Krissy's Dad asked.
Dad walked a little closer to the monsters with his knife while Ben walked over to him and helped him up. "Now drop the knife!" the monster yelled at Dad.
Dad slowly put his knife on the floor and said, "She's just a child. Let her go."
"Yeah, I don't think we'll be letting anyone go," the monster said.
"Daddy…" Krissy said, sounding scared. He kind of wanted to hit her, especially since she ruined everything. But Dad wasn't going to let him hit her if they made it out of this.
"It's ok, baby," Krissy's Dad said. "Everything's gonna be fine."
"Alright. Enough with the family bonding. It's time for you to shut up," the other monster said, biting Krissy's Dad.
He and Ben started to run forward, but Dad held his hand out to tell them to stop. He and Ben both stopped since they had agreed to listen, and Dad might have a plan to get them out of this. "Daddy, no!" Krissy yelled. "Dean!"
"He can't help you," the monster holding Krissy said. "No one can."
Krissy spun around suddenly and stabbed the monster, "I guess I'll have to help myself then."
He and Ben blurred over to the other monster and stabbed her at the same time, killing her. Dad was there a second later, pulling them away from the monster to check them over. "You ok, kiddo?" Dad asked. He nodded and looked over to Uncle Sam, who was untied now. "You two stay here," Dad said.
Ben grabbed his hand, and he didn't shake him off even though they were way too old for that kind of thing, unless it was Dad or Uncle Sam, and then only in extreme circumstances. But he realized that he felt a tiny bit better standing there with Ben.
Dad walked back over after he made sure Uncle Sam was ok, and then told them they were heading to the hospital for Krissy's Dad. He decided he would avoid her since he would definitely get in trouble for hitting her. He would just stay with his family and try to ignore her as much as possible while he tried not to think about other things.
He held Alec and Ben's hands as they walked into the hospital. He wanted to just carry them, but he knew holding their hands was pushing it. They claimed they were getting too old for that kind of thing, but he could still get away with it sometimes. Sam walked ahead of them to find out where to go, and then they were at the room a few minutes later.
Lee, Krissy's Dad, was laying in the hospital bed, but he looked ok, all thing's considered. "Yeah, I was hoping you'd stop by. I wanted to thank you," Lee said when he saw them.
"It's no problem," Sam said.
"No, you save my life. Krissy's too," Lee said.
"She messed things up," Alec mumbled under his breath. He squeezed Alec's hand as a warning.
"Don't thank us," he said. "Quit. Your daughter's 14 years old. She's already a hunter with a kill under her belt. I'm not trying to be a dick, and I know I'm a hypocrite because my boys are hunting, but what do you think that does to her life span? She could still be a regular kid." His boys never had a chance at normal, but they still had that choice if they wanted it.
"You know, I got into this for a reason," Lee said.
"I know," he said. "Your family. That's the same reason you should get out now."
"I can't. You ever know anyone who left the life?" Lee asked.
"No. They all get killed first," he stated, thinking of Bobby. Alec barely squeaked beside him, so he gently squeezed his hand this time, silently apologizing for bring up Bobby.
"Well, uh…we should probably let you get some rest," Sam said when Lee didn't say anything.
He picked Alec up since his little hand was shaking now, and his boy immediately hid against his neck. Ben grabbed his shirt, and he wished he could pick Ben up too. Sam must have known since he picked Ben up, and then they said goodbye to Lee.
They were leaving the hospital when Krissy caught up to them. "Dean!" she yelled, getting him to stop. "Thanks for saying bye, asshat."
Sam kept walking over to the car, but he stuck around to talk to Krissy even though he knew Alec didn't like her. "Oh, what? Now you're sentimental?" he teased.
"No. Just wanted to tell you that you're kind of amusing for an old man," Krissy said.
"How'd you get out of the cuffs, anyway?" he asked. It was still bothering him since he'd taken her lock pick and he knew there wasn't anything else in the Impala that she could've used.
"Girl's got to have her secrets," Krissy said.
"Bobby pin," he said. Alec's breath hitched, so he put his hand against his back. "You know, you could've gotten yourself killed."
"I saved your bacon," Krissy said.
"My point stands. But yes," he said, even though he and his boys had it under control before she broke into the place. But he was going to be nice and try to get her to agree to quit.
"So…Guess I'm retiring. One and done," she said. That was easy.
"Really?" he asked, thinking that she might just be saying it to make him happy.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll go to Stanford like Sam," she said. Krissy held her hand out suddenly for a fist-bump, which made him smile and bump it. "We're so lame," Krissy said with a laugh.
"Yeah, we are," he agreed. "Take care of yourself." She nodded, and then went back into the hospital. "You ok, kiddo?" he asked softly, rubbing Alec's back.
"I miss Bobby," Alec whispered.
"I miss him too," he said.
Alec's tears hit his shirt as he cried. He just held Alec since he didn't know what else he could do. Bobby was gone.
Present
He was holding Alec again like he usually was, and Alec was asleep, thankfully, but he was wearing the oxygen mask full time now to help him breathe and he could barely move since he was in so much pain. But baths seemed to help him relax and massages, with witch goop, as he'd started calling it, had become a nightly routine to try to get his muscles to relax. He was terrified that Alec was just going to slip away while he was asleep, or in another room, so he, Ben, and Sam were on constant watch to make sure Alec kept breathing.
"Hey," Sam whispered, bringing a cup of coffee over to him.
"Hey," Dean replied. He shifted Alec slightly, so he could take the mug, and gratefully took a sip. Ben was getting his two hours of sleep on the sofa behind them, but he'd probably wake up once he smelled the coffee. It looked like Sam had brought a mug for Ben too.
"How'd he do last night?" Sam asked.
"One seizure," Dean said. "His breathing was way too shallow for a while after that, but he fell asleep again when I started rubbing his back."
"You ready to switch?" Sam asked.
"Not yet," Dean mumbled, watching the oxygen mask fog up with his boy's breathing.
"Dean…"
"I can't get ahold of that guy, Ketch hasn't been able to track him down, or if he has, then he's screwing us over again, I can't get his seizures to stop…I can't do anything," Dean said. "He's gonna die because I can't do anything."
"Dean, I've got an idea," Sam said.
"What?"
"Right now, he just needs the extra oxygen, right?" Sam asked.
"I've been keeping him on fluids too, but that's just because he's unconscious enough to go either way," Dean said.
"Ok, but all that he really needs is the oxygen, right?" Sam clarified.
"Yeah," Dean said.
"Ok, so, we grab the portable oxygen tanks, pack into the Impala, and head out to Seattle," Sam said. "It'll suck, and it'll be painful, but we're out of options. I know you're not willing to lose him, and neither am I. We get to Seattle, we track this guy down, and force him to give up one of the scientists. We find the cure, or at least some kind of solution for now. He needs a break from the seizures, or we're gonna lose him."
"I don't think he can survive the trip," Dean said. "He's so tired already…this is just going to make things worse."
"Dean…we don't have a choice," Sam said. "We can't leave him here with just Ben. I can't leave him, and I know you can't leave him. Our only choice is to take him with us. Otherwise, we're just going to be there for him as he dies. And we already know, it's going to be slow and painful, and he's in too much pain already."
He thought about it for a few minutes, just watching as his little boy struggled for each breath. He couldn't lose Alec. He didn't want to just sit around and watch his son die, but he didn't want to speed up his death either. He only had so much time left with his son unless they found some miracle to save him. The only way they would find a miracle would be to leave the bunker, and Sam was right, he wasn't leaving Alec. And he definitely wasn't going to put watching over Alec on Ben. If he and Sam left and Alec died while Ben was taking care of him, not only would he not get to say goodbye to his son, but Ben would blame himself for the rest of his life, which probably wouldn't be a very long life after Alec died. He would lose both of his sons if Alec died.
"Ok," he whispered. "Can you pack some stuff up?"
"Dean, it's the only way," Sam said.
"I know," Dean said. "I know. And we have to try. If we wake Ben up, then he can help pack."
"Let him sleep," Sam said. "He needs it and I can put his stuff in the same bag as Alec's."
"You're gonna piss 'em off," Dean taunted.
"I'm ok with it," Sam said as he walked back out of the room.
"Guess all these blankets and pillows are goin' with us too…" Dean muttered to himself. He always felt like he was burning up now since he was almost always holding Alec, and Alec, who already ran warmer than normal human kids, and actually typically felt warmer than Ben too, had a fever from all the stress on his body. But, with the fever, Alec felt like he was cold all the time, so they gave him whatever blankets he wanted. He usually had a few blankets after a seizure anyway, but after all the seizures he'd had it was like he couldn't regulate his temperature. He was always cold, even with a pile of blankets already on him. The only time he felt warm was when someone was holding him.
"Dad?" Ben asked sleepily.
"Hey buddy, Uncle Sam left some coffee for you," Dean said.
"You told me coffee would stunt my growth," Ben mumbled, reaching for the mug anyway and taking a sip.
"It's not like you listen to me anyway," Dean pointed out.
"What's with the wake-up call?" Ben asked, completely ignoring him. "And how's Alec?"
"Alec slept the rest of the night after that one seizure. No other seizures," Dean said, choosing to ignore Ben's other question since he wasn't ready yet to break the news.
"And the coffee?" Ben asked. "Usually I have to make my own coffee because you and Uncle Sam have decided I drink too much of it and it'll somehow stunt my growth. But I've been drinking coffee for a while now, and I'm still as tall as Alec and he doesn't drink coffee."
"We're loading up and heading to Seattle," Dean said.
"What? Why? Alec can't ride in the car that far," Ben said as fast as he could. "Unless you think he doesn't have much time left. This is our last chance to save him, isn't it? If we don't go, he dies, but if we do go, he could die on the way. It could be too much for him. Plus, he needs the oxygen. It's getting harder and harder for him to breathe. Maybe we need to go back to the Infirmary and put him on the machines. I don't like it, but if it keeps him alive-"
"Ben, take a breath," Dean said. "We have to try to find this guy, but I can't leave Alec. We'll set up in some room and force this guy to tell us what he knows."
"What if it's a dead end?" Ben asked. "What if he doesn't know anything?"
"Manticore is in Gillette, Wyoming, right?" Dean asked. Ben flinched when he said that but nodded. "Ok, so, Seattle and Gillette aren't too far away, and even if the angels wiped out Manticore, there's gotta be something I can find. If none of that works, we'll start hitting up faith healers. Sam found one once who saved me, and even though I didn't want to be saved that way, I'm not losing Alec. If we find one who's legit, then that's where we're going."
"Dad…"
"I know buddy, I know," Dean said. "I know he's slipping away, and I know moving him across the country could just make it so we lose him faster, but we can't just sit here and watch him die."
Ben nodded, and then said, "Alright…but we should try to wake him up to tell him what's going on."
"How 'bout you go help your Uncle," Dean suggested. "He was just going to throw some of yours and Alec's things into the same bag…"
Ben scowled, very obviously unhappy with that idea. "We have different bags for a reason," Ben grumbled as he grabbed his mug and stood up. "I already have to watch Alec to make sure he doesn't steal my stuff and now Uncle Sam thinks it's a good idea to just put our stuff together?! What is he thinking?" Ben mumbled as he left the room.
He rubbed Alec's chest and gently tapped his cheek once it was just the two of them. "C'mon kiddo, we've got a game plan, so I gotta fill you in." Alec didn't respond or even start to wake up, but he'd been expecting that. It was getting more and more difficult each time they had to wake him up, which was just another sign of how bad things were getting. "Alec, c'mon, wake up for just a few seconds, and then I'll let you sleep again."
It took at least 10 minutes to get Alec to wake up, and he was surprised that Ben and Sam hadn't come back yet. "Hey kiddo," Dean whispered, holding Alec closer. "Can you hear me?" Alec slowly nodded, so at least he was still functioning enough to understand him. "We're going to Seattle, all of us. It's gonna be hard on you, I know that, but I can't leave you here and I can't just sit here and do nothing."
"I-I'm d-dying…aren't I?" Alec breathed.
Tears spilled down his cheeks, but he forced himself to nod, "Yes Alec. But that's why we're moving now. We don't have any other choice."
"I-I'm s-sorry Dad," Alec whispered. "I'm tr-trying…"
"I know baby, I know," Dean quickly reassured. "You're doing everything you can and I'm so proud of you. And you have nothing to be sorry for. I love you so much Alec." Tears started falling down Alec's cheeks too, but he gently wiped them away and whispered, "I'm not giving up and neither should you. I know it would be easier on you to let go, but please don't leave me, ok Alec? I know it hurts, but just give me a little more time to try to find something."
"I l-love you D-dad," Alec said.
He gave Alec a shaky smile, "I'll never get tired of hearing that."
"I-I d-don't w-wanna die," Alec admitted.
"I'm gonna do everything I can to prevent that," Dean said, trying to hold back his tears again. "We're gonna go to Seattle, find this guy, and force him to tell us what he knows. If that doesn't work, then we're going to Gillette next. If I can't find anything there, then we'll go down the list of faith healers, witches, or I guess more witches, voodoo crap…I'm not letting you go without a fight. I should've started looking sooner, but I thought it'd be better to let you recover first. I should've started looking as soon as we got back…"
"D-dad…it's o-ok," Alec whispered. "I th-thought I w-was g-gonna g-get better t-too…"
"Well, this trip is gonna suck, but we can make stops and we'll go slow," Dean said. "It won't be fun, but we'll try to make it as painless as possible."
"W-we're all g-going, r-right?" Alec asked to make sure.
"Yeah, we're all going," Dean said.
"D-don't l-leave B-ben alone w-with me," Alec breathed. "H-he w-wouldn't be able t-to h-handle it if I d-died…"
"Alec, don't worry about anything, ok?" Dean soothed. "I'm gonna take care of everything and I'm gonna stay with you as much as I can, ok?"
"Ok," Alec said.
He held Alec and gently rubbed his chest. He kissed the side of Alec's head, and then whispered, "I was terrified when you showed up in that room. Suddenly I was responsible for someone other than myself, and I was so scared I was gonna screw up. But even when you pissed me off, you were still my little boy. You're still my little boy, Alec. I've always tried to protect you, but you always tried to sneak behind my back to do whatever you wanted."
Alec smiled a little, but he was too tired to defend himself.
"But you made me a Dad," Dean said. "Y'know, I wanted you to start calling me Dad weeks before you actually did. I used to make sure we were in public at least once a day, just so you'd have to call me Dad." Alec snuggled against his side but was too tired to do anything else. "I love you so much Alec."
Alec smiled a little bit, so he held him closer and just let him rest until everyone was ready to go.
"Alec, you're awake," Ben said in surprise when he walked back into the rec room. He had a big smile on his face since they rarely saw Alec awake anymore. "I missed you," Ben let slip as he sat next to them on the mattress.
"M-missed you t-too," Alec said, even though he would have normally teased Ben.
"Did Dad tell you we're going to Seattle?" Ben asked.
"Yeah," Alec breathed.
"It'll be fun," Ben said. "Just like old times. You can lean on me to sleep, and then pretend like you weren't sleeping on me when you wake up." Alec quickly blinked away tears, so Ben changed the subject. "You wanna drive by the Space Needle? We could convince Dad to drive by it while we're there even though he hates traffic."
"Y-yeah…" Alec said with a small smile. Alec frowned though, and then said, "I-I had a dr-dream…"
"A good dream?" Ben asked, grabbing Alec's hand and holding on as tightly as he could.
"I d-don't know…it w-was w-w-weird…" Alec said. His little boy had to close his eyes against the pain for a few seconds, but then he forced his eyes open again. "N-no r-road trip…n-not yet."
"Alec, we can't wait much longer," Dean said, running his hand through Alec's short hair.
"W-w-we sh-should tr-try-" Alec stopped suddenly and groaned as his tremors shook his body harder. He pulled Alec closer and rubbed his chest to try to help him however he could, but he and Ben waited for Alec to say whatever it was that he wanted to say. Whatever it was, it had to be important since it was too hard on Alec to talk very much now. "Bl-blood tr-transfusion," Alec finally whispered.
"Blood transfusion?" Dean asked, not sure where his son was going with this.
"B-ben…"
He looked over at his oldest son, who was frowning as he thought about it. Alec was watching Ben, hoping that his brother would understand what he was getting at, so he wouldn't have to explain it. Something must have clicked for Ben because he looked up after a moment and said, "It might not work…"
"M-might g-give me m-more t-t-time," Alec said.
"Ben," he said, needing his boys to spell out whatever it was that they were thinking.
"It might not work, but if I give Alec a little more blood, maybe it can give his system a boost to fight off the seizures," Ben said. "It wouldn't get rid of them forever, but it might work enough to give him a break. And if he gets a break, then he could fight them off himself and get back on track."
"It doesn't hurt to try, right?" Dean asked, looking back and forth between his boys. He saw hope in Alec's eyes for the first time in a long time. "Alright, Ben, go get Sam and have him help you get whatever you need and bring it here." Ben nodded and ran out of the room to find Sam. "Alec, if this doesn't work, then we still gotta try for Seattle."
"E-even if it d-does w-work…" Alec had to stop again and just leaned against him.
"Even if it works, then we're still going to Seattle," Dean said, gently kissing Alec's temple. "I can't lose you, kiddo. I need you to be ok again." Alec nodded, and then just rested against him. He ran his hand through Alec's hair and held him close. He would do anything to make sure his boys were ok. He hadn't known what to do when Alec had shown up in their motel room, but ever since he'd met Alec, he'd known he had to protect him. Alec and Ben were his boys, and he felt helpless right now since he couldn't protect Alec from this.
"Hey," Sam said as he and Ben walked back into the room. Ben's face fell when he saw that Alec was asleep again.
"We're gonna give this a try before we hit up Seattle," Dean said. "But Ben, just one bag, ok buddy?"
"Ok Dad," Ben said.
"We'll give this a chance to work," Dean said.
More soon...