Standing on a ladder as even he was not that tall, Sam successful tapped the last layer of bubble wrap to the fan blade. "How's yours looking, Charlie?"
Charlie was stepping down from her own ladder. "I just got this one done."
Hannah stood in the doorway, watching as the hunters meticulously wound bubble wrap over each blade of every fan, officially making it safe for all toddler angels and baby Nephilim.
"Mommy, what's Daddy and Aunt Charlie doin'?" Dean asked, perplexed as Cas just watched with his head tilted.
"He's making sure Cas and the baby don't get hurt when they start to fly." Hannah explained, as it had been explained to her.
"But I'se don't fly." Cas responded.
Hannah reached down as best she could and ran a hand through Cas' downy feathers. "But you will one day."
Cas squirmed uncomfortably. "I'se don't wanna fly."
This took Hannah by surprise. "Why not?"
Cas looked up at the ceiling. "It's scary."
Hannah picked him up and gave him a little cuddle. "I know it seems scary, but really, it's not. You might even like it."
"No, I won't." Cas insisted, burying his head into her chest.
"If Cas don't wanna fly, I'se can do it." Dean volunteered hopefully.
"I'm sorry, little one, but that won't work." Hannah tried, "You don't have wings."
"I can just use Cas' wings." Dean reasoned, "He won't mind. Will you, Cas?"
Cas shook his head,
"There sort of attached to him…" Hannah began, when she felt a now familiar queasiness well up inside her. Sitting Cas down she told then, "I'll be right back," running for the nearest bathroom.
As the sound of reaching filled the bunker, Sam stepped down. "I better go see about that."
"Go." Charlie agreed, "We got these guys."
Reason, holding Maudie, and Serena Joy were standing in the doorway. "How long has the morning sickness been back?" Reason wondered aloud.
"Just today." Charlie responded, stepping off the ladder and walking over to the girls. "Lowering in her voice she added, "What's more worrisome is what's started happening with her powers."
"Yeah, she told me about what happened last night with angel radio." Reason responded, "Poor thing."
What happened the night before was that she wound up tuned into some kind of meeting, and then there were a good deal of prayers while trying to sleep and couldn't get it turned off. Then when she tried to stop blocking nothing happened. Rather it was because there was just nothing going on at that time or if she was stuck blocking, she didn't know. Alarmed, she tried to read the boys' minds—normally she didn't as it was a bit of boundary issue, and she never, ever, read Sam's mind, she only did it this time as a test—and she couldn't.
"Is this normal?" Serena Joy asked, "Should be worried?"
"Dr. Robert's out of town, but they set up a rendezvous for Monday." Charlie told them, "But other than that, she seems okay, so we're hopeful."
After the girls finally had to leave, Charlie went back to work, keeping one eye on the boys, Dean walked up to. "Aunt Charlie, how come Cas and the baby gets to have wings and I'se don't?"
Charlie froze for a minute, not sure of what to do. "Ah…" Just then she was rescued by her phone going off. "Hold on a second, will you?" Charlie asked, picking up the phone, "Hello?"
"Charlie Bradbury?" A man's voice Charlie somewhat recognized but couldn't but her finger on asked tentively.
"Ah, yeah." Charlie responded, stepping down.
"It's Cal, Cal Murdock." The man explained, "We worked that ghost case in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. You mentioned you were heading towards Kansas. You wouldn't have to be there now, would you? I need some help…"
"Are you sure you don't need me to come with you?" Sam checked for the fourth time as Charlie headed towards the door. He knew Charlie could handle herself, and she wasn't going to be on her own, but he didn't know Cal and that made him nervous.
"If things go sideways or we need more reinforcements, you'll be the first one I call." Charlie promised, "But you got a sick, pregnant wife, and twins that have rift possibly forming between them. I think you're needed here more."
"Rift?" Sam repeated, disconcerted.
"Dean seems to be a little jealous of Cas and little sister's wings." Charlie explained, holding up her fingers.
"Oh." Sam responded, "Thanks for the heads up."
Meanwhile, Abigail was walking down a busy street, the streets light shining down on her. She had to take a plane, two Gray Hounds, hitch hiked and walked across a bridge, but she had made it. She turned the corner and walked towards the parking lot with a white brink and stucco building with a black tile roof and sign that read: Saginaw Consignment.
In back room of the store, a young woman with long glossy dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes, was staring own at the contents of cup tea, now drunk, leaving only the leaves, while on the phone. "Yeah, it's corporal, whatever it is." She cocked her head, examining the leaf, "Also, it has an evil heart, I'd be careful if I was you." After a moment of the other person talking, she said, "I'm sorry, Greg, I am literally looking at symbols in wet leaves, it doesn't always give the whole story. Look, I'm getting some other signs here, maybe…I don't know Wendigo? Maybe. "Just then she heard the door open. "I think I got a customer, Greg, I gotta go. Good luck."
Bulling back a pale-yellow curtain that separated the back room from the rest of the ship, the young woman walked out, stopping when she saw Abigail. "Oh, it's you. Alice, Ada, something with A, right?"
"I take it that means you remember me." Abigail commented, thinking now wasn't a good time to be given her name out, even if it was just her first one. "Melanie, right?"
"Yeah," Melanie responded, "Any luck finding your girl?"
"We found her." Abigail answered, "But there was something else I needed your help with." She pulled a bundle of cash from her jacket. "I brought money, if that's an issue."
"Come back and we'll see." Melanie told her.
At the bunker and Charlie had left and Sam was walking back to the bathroom with a bottle of ginger ale. "How are we doing in here?"
"Nothing's happening but I still feel queasy." Hannah explained, clinging to the side of the toilet.
"Here." Sam offered, pouring a glass of ginger ale. Hannah took it with a grateful smile and began to slowly sip as Sam leaned down next to her.
That was when they heard the first cries of "Owie…. Owie…."
Both parents jumped up. However, Hannah went back down, bile trailing down her throat. "Go," She told him, "I'll catch—" She began reaching.
Sam ran down the hall to find Cas lying face first on the floor wings spread out, crying, "Owie! "
"Where's it hurt, bud?" Sam asked, crouching down.
"My wings!" Cas exclaimed, "They hurt and they're itchy!"
Sam bent down and carefully examined the appenges. The feathers were oddly dull, and the he noticed a small pile of them in the floor. Gently brushing them he noticed that there were feathers growing back in place, mostly more soft feathers, but at the very edge of his right wing, were two feathers that were bigger, courser and rougher than the rest of them.
Sam sighed. "Lovely."
Sam!" Hannah called out, desperate to know what was going on.
"I think Cas is molting." Sam called back.
Hannah stepped out of the bathroom. "Sam, that's—that's not a thing. Angels' wings aren't like bird wings, at least in that respect."
"Well they're also not normally corporeal." Sam pointed out, carefully gathering the little angel up in his arms.
"Fair enough." Hannah conceded, walking down to hall to see what they could do about this.
Filling up the tub, pulled out the economy size bottle of Mr. Bubble bath, spirted some in in attempt to boost morale, also hopping a bath in general would sooth Cas' wings, before plopping the boys into the bath while Hannah's got the oil for Cas' wings. As the kids played with the dragon ducks from Christmas, Sam spirted some shampoo in his hand. "Okay, Dean," He began, "You're closest so you go first."
"Five more minutes? "Dean pleaded.
"You'll still have plenty of time to play." Sam assured him, beginning to lather the shampoo in Dean's hair.
As his brother was getting his head washed, Cas turned around and tried to starch his wings.
"Castiel, don't scratch." Sam told him, "It's not good for your wings and you could hurt yourself.
" But they're itchy!" Cas protested.
"But scratching will only make it worst." Sam told him, finishing with Dean and making it over to the angel in question.
Dean began to play with the ducks again, but then his tummy started to feel funny. Ignoring it as fist, he continued to play but funny feeling didn't go away. "Daddy, I'se don't think I'se feel good."
Sam turned to him. "What do you mean?"
"I think I'm gonna…I think I'm gonna…" Dean began, before leaning down and opening his mouth, a pile of hot vomit coming out of it.
Sam pulled Dean from the water, slick as a fish, silently wondering if at least two people throwing up on New Year's Eve was going to be a thing from now.
Ten minutes later, Dean was on the table at the walk-in client, Dr. Sinclair talking to Sam.
"It looks like a twenty-four-hour stomach virus. "She declared, "I'm writing him a prescription to help a little, but the best you can do is wait it out, ginger ale and crackers, Pedialyte if he gets dehydrated and if goes over forty-eight hours, you bring him back here or to your doctor. "
"Right." Sam agreed, taking the prescription, "Thank you."
Meanwhile, at the base of a forest trail, a young man with short cut brown hair, dressed in varying shades of brown and blue jeans, was crouching outside of a brown truck, talking to a little boy about the same age as the twins, with mop of blown hair, dressed in blue jeans and a hand sewn purple and light brown checked shirt.
"You did good, little man." The man assuring him, "It's going to be okay; we're going to find her."
Just then Charlie's bug pulled up and the redhead got out. "Hey."
"Hi," Cal greeted her, then turned his attention back to the boy, "Jerod, I want to meet a friend of mine. This is Charlie."
Charlie crouched down. "It's very nice to meet you, Jerod."
"You have nice colors." Jerod complimented her.
"He's physic." Cal explained, picking the boy up, "Reads auras. Like his Mom." After a beat, he added, "Their cabin's this way."
"So, you found him on the side of the road?" Charlie recapped what Cal had told him on the phone.
"Little guy has no clue how he got there." Cal finished, "But Adele—" He lowered her voice in hopes the boy in his arms wouldn't pick up on what they were saying, "Adele wouldn't just leave him. Not like that. Something had to have happen. Something bad." Stopping, Cal sat down Jerod down, "Wait here. We'll come back for you."
"But— "Jerod began to protest.
"Not buts." Cal cut him off, "Just until we know what's there. And you know when to run, right?"
Jerod nodded.
"Alright." Cal responded, before he and Charlie walked off. "Are we sure it's a good idea leaving a scared four-year-old alone in the woods?"
"The cabin's like, a foot away." Cal told her, "If anything happens, we'll know it."
As if on cue, they came up to an old brown wood cabin, what looked like a large plastic shed, and a tall thin wood structure close to the cabin.
"Is that what I think it is?" Charlie asked as they walked to the cabin the cabin.
"An outhouse?" Cal replied, "Yeah. She used to have it set up inside, bucket toilet, you know, cordoned the thing off with curtains, but made the place smell horrible."
"Cal, no offense, but what was your friend doing out here?" Charlie asked, glancing to where she thought she could make out some sort of garden in the fading light a little way away from the house.
"After Jerod's dad died, Adele sorta—snapped." Cal explained, "Pulled one of those pack a bag and leave it all behind deals. Found the cabin abandoned, and, seeing as no one was using it, decided to go off the grid, almost completely self-sufficient. Goes to town like maybe once every few months to sell fire wood at this stand the local taxidermist keeps to stay afloat during the off season, split the profits, or stock on up on what she can't make for herself."
The cabin's door was already opened. However, as they stepped inside, they saw the cabin had not only been left untouched, but it looked like everything just stopped. There were two paper plates and plastic cutlery on a smooth round table. Next to run of them was a little notebook and a crayon, and either Adele had terrible handwriting or Gabriel had been practicing his letters when things went down, next to the other was a blue metal cup with some sort of Survivor logo on it.
Cal walked over to the table and peered into the cups. "Looks like she was reading tea leaves."
"Dinner on the stove." Charlie noted, glancing at skillet filled with some sort of rice dish. It was on a wood burning stove that looked like it had come with the cabin.
Cal glanced over to a device constructed out of terra cotta pots, black stones with a glass lid. "She's got hog jowl in the cooler. Probably meant to cook it tomorrow. The point is, she wasn't planning on going anywhere."
Just then there was the sound of clucking. The hunters turned their heads and saw a small bird the likes of which Charlie had never seen before, black skin covered with white almost fur like feathers. As Charlie went for her gun Cal scooped up the bird saying, "I know where we need to go."
As they hurried through the clearing they started to see signs of a struggle: A rain barrel thrown over, smeared dirt, rocks and charcoal on a grown, a tore up plastic bag, a pump action riffle that looked like it had been thrown across the yard, and a give or take a dozen chickens, mostly Silky Bannies in white, black, black and gray mixed and a at least one brown, and three regular sized, regular looking chickens in black, red and yellow and running around the clearing. There was a fenced in chicken coop, but the gate what been left wide opened.
"Looks like whatever happened, it happened here." Charlie noted, shinning a flashlight out the scene, "But where did she go?"
That was when child scream pierced the night.
"Jerod!" Both hunters screamed, running back the way they came.
Meanwhile, Saginaw Michigan, Abigail had finished explaining what she wanted to Melanie who was now sitting down in the back room.
"So, basically, you want me to help you break up a marriage?" Melanie recapped.
"You make me sound like a whore trying to score a married man." Abigail countered, "Can you do it?"
"I can tell you what I see, I can't guarantee you'll like it." Melanie responded, standing, "Put you cash away, I don't want to take money for this. That would make me feel like a whore."
Sighing, Abigail began to walk out the door, when Melanie grabbed her the arm. "I never said I wouldn't do it." She turned around to get material, only for her jaw to drop when she saw how bare her cupboards were.
"Wasn't there more here last time?" Abigail asked, "Sand and rocks and –whatever it is you use?"
"Yeah, I've had a busy couple week." Melanie responded, disconcerted.
Meanwhile, at Serena Joy's apparent, Maudie was petting the head of her kitten.
"Careful," Reason began, before turning to Serena Joy, "Thanks for letting us come by."
On the way home, Maudie asked is she could meet the kitten.
"Hey, I've been meaning to let you both see the little guy." Serena Joy declared, putting earrings in her ears.
"Speaking of which, have you named the little guy yet?" Reason asked.
Serena Joy glanced over, somewhat abashed. "Actually I've been having a bit of a mental block when it comes to that."
Elsewhere in Lebanon, Sam, a phone to his ear, was going down the soda isle to get more ginger ale while poor Dean was laid up in the cart covered with his Dad's coat, holding a puke bucket.
"I still got thirteen minutes before the prescriptions ready, but then I'm getting him home." Sam assured Hannah on the other end of the line, "Until then I got him as comfortable as I can manage."
"Poor little guy…" Hannah mused, before reaching again herself, "I think I better go. Be safe out there."
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "Love you." He hung up and grabbed more ginger ale. He had a feeling they were going to need it. "You doing okay there, bud?"
Dean held a thumbs up, but his face didn't agree with his.
"It's okay, buddy." Sam soothed, pushing the cart down the aisle, "We'll be able to get your medicine and go home soon."
That was when a woman's voice called out, "Sam? Sam Winchester?"
Sam turned at the sound of his name and saw a woman around his age with long corn silk blonde hair pulled back from her face, and pale eyes. Someone he hadn't seen in what felt like a life time.
"Rebecca?" Sam asked, in utter shock, "Rebecca Warren?"
Rebecca nodded.
A lot of questions were running through Sam's head at once. The one that came out was, "W-What are you doing here?"
"My flight got canceled and in my infinite wisdom I thought driving back home or at least to the nearest airport was a good idea." Rebecca explained, "Had to stop for more supplies. How long has it been?"
"Since Zack and the—" Sam began, then lowered his voice, "The shape shifter."
"Kinda hard to forget something like that." Rebecca responded, "Really glad to see you're not actually dead." She had heard about the alleged murderous exploits of the Winchester brothers on the news, but considering what she had seen, never believed a word of it. Then he noticed what, or rather, who was in Sam's cart. "You have a kid?"
"Yeah," Sam responded, "Dean this is an old friend of Daddy's, Miss Rebecca, Rebecca, this is Dean."
Dean waved.
"Dean?" Rebecca repeated, "Like—"
"It's a long story." Sam told him, "And I'm honestly not sure it's appropriate for here." He gestured to Dean. "What about you?"
"We're—we're trying." Rebecca admitted, "I honestly got a bit of a late start in –well, everything. So, until then, I just—dote on my nieces and nephews." After a beat she added, "And thank you for that." Pulling a piece of paper from her purse. "Tell you what, here's my number, call me when you're not—in the middle of something."
Sam smiled. "Definitely."
Cal and Charlie sprinted for where they left Jerod, only to find the little boy gone and a figure in dark clothes looking through bushes seething, "Come here you little brat! Do you want to see your Mom or not?!"
The hunters pulled out their guns. "Don't move." Cal ordered, "Turn around."
The figure turned around, revealing an older balding man wearing a pair of spectacles.
"On the ground." Charlie ordered.
Instead, suddenly their guns were ripped by their hands by an invisible force, and then they were thrown to the ground themselves. Satisfied they were dealt with, the man went back to searching the bushes, grabbing Jerod. "No!" Jerod shouted, kick, and hitting, "Nooooooo!" Then he bit the man's hand.
"Shit!" The attacker cursed, dropping the boy.
That gave Charlie time to get her to gun, firing off a shot and hitting the would-be kidnapper's shoulder. Realizing he was defeated; the man turned and ran towards the woods.
First the hunters went to Jerod, Charlie picking him up. "Are you hurt?"
Jerod shook his head. "I tried to run, but—but—"
"It's okay, little man, you did great." Cal told him shinning his flashlight, "I got a blood trail, unless he knows the area he can't get far, especially at night."
Seeing a black leather bill foal on the ground, Charlie picked it up. "I got something better."
In Saginaw, Melanie had found an unusual solution to their problem.
"Craft sand?" Abigail questioned as she watched the physic spread the dyed blue sand on her table, "Really?"
"Sand is sand." Melanie reasoned, spreading the sand around, "If it's sand, I can divine with it." She spread it around some more, then stood back looking at signs.
"Well?" Abigail asked impatiently.
"Give me a second, I literally just finished." Melanie responded then commented to herself. "You're worse than Greg." Then she leaned down, carefully reading the signs in the sand. Seeing something odd, she made a face. "That doesn't…"
"What?" Abigail spoke up urgently, "What is it?"
"It's saying something about creepy clowns…" Melanie explained, bemused.
"Melanie!" Abigail snapped.
"I'm reading, I'm reading," Melanie assured her. Finally, she found something that looked like it pertained to Abigail. "You can't."
Abigail was confused and distressed. "What do you mean, I can't."
"You can't break them up, their bond is too strong." Melanie responded, "Nothing short of adultery, which doesn't look like that's going to happen, or abuse, ditto, is doing to make either of them leave the other. And you're not going to convince either of them they're a threat to the kids unless you can produce something more than your experience."
Abigail ran her hands through her hair. This could not be happening. Suddenly, she knew what she needed to do. "Then how do I take her?"
"What?" Melanie responded.
"If neither of them will do the right thing, how do I—take the kid from them and get her somewhere safe?" Abigail elaborated, frustrated.
Melanie had just about had enough. "Okay, I don't know exactly what's going on, but I draw the line at kidnapping. You need to leave." She began to push Abigail towards the curtain, only to find herself slammed against the cabinets with a knife to her throat.
"You're gonna help me." Abigail seethed.
Back at the bunker, Sam had finally got Dean back home, got the medicine in him and put him into bed. "There you go? How are you feeling?"
"Yucky." Dean answered before taking a zip of Pedialyte.
Sam rubbed the toddler's ack. "I'm sorry, bud."
"Why can't Mommy make me better like normal?" Dean asked.
Sam froze. They had probably come to rely on Hannah's power when it came to things like this. "Mommy's powers, -they started acting up yesterday." Sam admitted, "We don't know why, but the point is, this time we're on our own, bud."
"Oh, no, poor Mommy." Dean lamented.
Just then, as if on cue, they could hear the familiar sound of reaching from down the hall.
"I'm gonna go check on your Mom and get your brother, okay?" Sam began, standing up.
Dean nodded but whimpered. Taking a few steps, Sam stumbled over a toy that in the commotion of the day had been left out, causing him to stumble. He fell back, his bottom sticking at it hit the floor.
"Oh, no." Dean called out again.
At that moment, Reason was in the passenger seat of Serena Joy's Nova when the phone went off. Picking up, she said, "Hey, Sam?" When she didn't get a response, her face fell, "Sam?"
Hearing her, Sam pulled out his phone. "Sorry, pocket dial." He explained in a pain voice.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Reasoned.
"Yeah, ah, we just—had a lot of stuff happen suddenly." Sam explained, "Hannah's having morning sickness, well, evening sickness now I guess, Dean has one of those twenty-four hours stomach bugs and Cas is molting."
"I'm sorry, molting?" Reason responded.
"Yeah, it's ah, it's a thing apparently." Sam told her.
Just then, Dean picked up his newly washed bucket and puked in it.
Putting a hand over the receiver, Reason asked, "S. J., I hate to put you out, but you mind turning around, I think Sam's needs some help."
"Just let me find a place to turn around." Serena Joy replied.
Reason put the receiver up to her month. "Sam, help is on the way."
"Reason you can't—" Sam began.
"I most certainly can." Reason cut him off, "Sam, I owe you like, fifteen at this point."
By this point, Reason had a key, so she able to let herself, Serena Joy and Maudie in. "Sam," Reason called out, "We're here."
"In the bathroom!" Sam called out.
"This place only has one bathroom?" Serena Joy asked her friend.
"No, but I know which one he's talking about." Reason said.
In the bathroom, Sam and Hannah were slathering Cas's wings in ointment, cream, ointments, oils, anything and everything they thought would help with the itchy or the pain. While nothing they used smelt particularly bad per sea, some of them strong, causing Hannah to have another wave of neasousness.
They were applying one of the stronger oils and Hannah covered her mouth heading back to the toilet, just as their friends appeared in the doorway. "Looks like we got here just in time. "Serena Joy commented.
Reason went to Hannah, helping the angel hold back her. "I got her, Serena, you help Sam."
Serena Joy went to Sam, helping to hold Cas steady. Then there was reaching from down the hall. "Looks like Dean's up." Sam commented.
"I'm on it." Serena Joy commented, setting Maudie on the counter. To everyone's surprise, the toddler reached out and held Cas, both comforting her friend and allowing his father to apply the oil.
"Oh, by the way, we brought this," Reason pulled a red tube and a green bottle out of her jacket, "Hydrocodone cream and some kind of eucalyptus tea body oil or something. I don't know, it's Serena's." As her other friend heaved again, she commented, "I don't miss this part."
Meanwhile, Charlie sat in a both at the local number on her lap top, following the tails left by their suspect, who while he got away was stupid to enough to bring his real ID to a kidnapping, while Cal sat across from her with Jerod, half asleep and scared and upset, laid in his lap, covered with Cal's jacket
"Okay, so we're looking for Lyle Griffin." Charlie began, " Biology teacher, no recent career history, though, just a few years shy of sixty—"
"Griffin, Griffin, why does that name sound familiar?" Cal wondered around, a pit forming in his stomach, as he knew wherever he knew it from it was bad.
Charlie started hacking into the schools Griffin use to work for, and her eyes widened. "Whoa. Apparently over the course of his career he's steps down or was flat out fired from like, five universities, officially for different reasons but unofficially—he was suspected of misappropriating funds for unsanctioned research one time, another he went on long rambling Eugenics rants in the middle of lectures—"
"Eugenics?" Cal repeated, not sure what that even meant.
"Yeah, the concepts go back to the Greeks but the modern version was logically developed by Darwin's lesser known likely more duchey half cusion before the Nazis really made it famous." Charlie explained.
Suddenly Cal remembered a conversation he had long ago with a friend. "I know where I know the name Griffin from. It was Adele's last name."
"I thought Adele last name was Owens." Charlie responded, confused.
"It is now, she got it legally changed back when she was eighteen, but when she was a kid her rat bag step father adopted her and she had his last name." Cal explained, "Look, I don't know much because Adele never told me much, but she told Jerod, the first Jerod, the kid's dad, and the night she did, he got drunk, like real drunk and he never drank, stumbled into mind room and lot of what he said didn't make sense, but he said Adele's father was, and I quote, 'into some real Nazi shit'. "Then something else occurred to him. Lowering his voice, he said, "What I do know is Adele ran away from home at fifteen."
Suddenly Charlie found a report that made a lot of things made sense. "I think I know why. According these reports Griffin was caught in one of the campus science labs preforming electro shock therapy on his, what is described here as his adopted daughter—Adele Emily Griffin—something he had no training or any authority to do. He claimed that Adele had started harming herself after the death of her mother and the therapy was being performed by a trained professional, but the cops saw through that, Adele was placed in an emergency shelter until her aunt and uncle and could come down from Covington Kentucky to get her and an investigation was launch but both she and Griffin disappeared. Police thought that family might be helping him evade authorities, case was more or less dropped after Adele reappeared three years later in Covington and her relatives were given emergency custody. But these picture forms the police field—there brutal." She visible cringed at a picture of Adele at fifteen, her head shaven with fresh surgical stiches.
Cal let out a sigh, feeling like he was going to be sick and wanting to punch something.
"Okay, so, guy who's already into some gnarly genetic philosophies discovers his step daughter's physic— "Charlie began to speculate.
"Assumingly that wasn't why he picked her Mom out in the first place." Cal added.
"Right," Charlie responded, "And he decides that—I don't know, physics are the next step in evolution and decided to try to see what makes her tick, but she escapes, and you know what happens after that, you were there for most of it, and then—"
"And then he tracks her down again." Cal finished gravely, "Decides to pick up where he let off except this time, she's got a kid he can cut up like Frankenstein's monster, too."
"But –how?" Charlie wondered, "I mean, I looked, and apart from getting Jerod a birth certificate and social security number, she hasn't left any foot print in over four years, and she didn't have much of digital foot print before then."
"That doesn't matter now, "Cal brushed it off, "What matters now is finding her before he can start up his experiments again, do God knows what to her."
Charlies finger met the keys and she worked her magic. "I think I know how to do that too. There was a charge to Griffin's brother's credit card to storage unit not two far from here, payed for the next six months." After reading more she added, "There's also apparently been a series of break ins in the areas over the last two days. Pet store, walk in client…"
"He's building a lab." Cal declared.
The pair lept from the seats, Cal throwing a twenty on the table. They only got a cup of coffee and some fries they tried to get Jerod to eat, but they spent a lot of time at that table.
In the dim light of the aforementioned storage unit, a woman in her mid-twenties with long blonde hair flowing out around her like a halo, dressed in pined up and sewed up maternity overalls, was lying on sheet on the floor, turning over and edging her way towards that currently sewing up his own bullet wound, stuck in a haze of drugs that was making her escape all that much harder. If she could just get a little closer….
In terms of uses for combat, Aura reading was pretty sucky power. It certainly didn't help her mom when it came to her choice in men. Well, maybe not entirely true. She heard uncle tell her aunt once that the mom could see the darkest in their Auras, the flaws, she just willfully ignorant, or thought she could fix her significant others. The point was, Aura reading could give you an idea who to avoid, but if you couldn't avoid them you were on your own.
Super Strength however, was a completely story.
She wasn't sure what he did that worked, even he wasn't sure. For all his talk of being a big-time scientist, had an only a thing grasps of concepts like scientific method, repeatable phenomena, and he kept adequate notes but his organization of them was a mess. Apparently, he had figured it out eventually if the Carrie White routine was any indication, he had been winter creek dry of any power before. In disorganized notes, he speculated on what powers that could be unlocked. He thought in her case, it would be telepathy, or visions. Telekithsis and super strength, who knew? She had only been able to use her own telekithsis twice, once when she was fifteen to open the lock door standing in between her and freedom, the second time that evening when she threw Jerod so far, she wasn't sure where he landed, just hopped that he had landed safely. Her baby was not going to suffer like she had. She could only activate the super strength in fits of high emotions at first, and then she found the cabin and decided she was done in this world, she wasn't going to raise her son it. The super strength got a lot of practice then, lot of lifting, lot of pulling. When you're a hundred pounds soaking wet in the middle of nowhere it was useful. She would have used it on Lyle, if he hadn't started throwing her around the clearing like a rag doll before injecting her with something that knocked her out cold.
He'd been keeping her dosed up ever since, which was making any attempt at escape nearly impossible. But is she could just get close enough to get to a good kick in…
Cal pulled up to the storage unit, glancing into the back where Jerod was passed out a sleep. They had hated bringing him, but time was of the essence. Who knew what Griffin would do not that he knew people were onto him? There was no time to drop him off with anyone. Not if they wanted to save his Mom.
Charlie tapped a note to window entreating people not to break the glass, as the proper tempt controls and the light was on, he had water and blankets and they had music on for him, then they got out. Locking the door, they went up to the attendant, Charlie having her badge out already. "FBI, we need into your Unit 29 B, now."
Adele fell down, too spent to go on. Hearing her hit the floor, Lyle turned around, and stood up. "Will you never learn?" He tutted picking her up.
Just then the door raised, revealing a cowed nighttime attendant, and two righteously angry hunters. "What the—" The attendant began in shock and Cal and Charlie raised their guns, ready to shoot.
Lyle held Adele to him, using her as a human shield. He focused on their guns, trying to throw, but the guns only shook. "How?" Lyle sputtered, stunned.
"Turns out there's a million and one uses for Duct Tape." Charlie quipped, "Gently put the girl to the ground, and get on your knees."
"You foolish child!" Lyle seethed, "Do you even realize what this girl is?!"
"She's someone you were supposed to protect!" Cal spat, "Not poke her and prod her like a human lab rat!"
"It's a necessary starfice for the good of human—ah!" Lyle began only to be cut off by a horrible pain in his foot.
Adele was able to focus enough to step down his foot, breaking it. She hit, enabling her to move away, and grab onto him throwing him across the room with sickening crutch. Suddenly she felt exhausted, totally drained, and collapsed on the floor, losing consciousness.
"I got her; you check him." Cal said, removing the duct tape from his hand and running for Adele. Charlie decided to keep hers on for a moment, hurrying over to the monster and taking his pulse. "He's dead."
Cal took the physic into his arms. "You hear that Adele? You're free."
Rousing somewhat, she rasped, "Jer-Jer—"
"I'll take you to him." Cal promised, running for the truck.
In Saginaw, Melanie, sat uncomfortably in a dark brown Windsor chair, her wrist secured to the middle post with a large white silk scarf, while Abigail poured more blue craft sand out on the table and spread it around.
"Help me!" Melanie screamed, hopping to attach attention from the outside, "I'm being robbed! Help me—" She was cut off by a hot sting to her cheek as Abigail slapped her.
"Shut up!" Abigail snapped, before pushing the chair towards the table, "There. It's ready. Now read." She picked up the knife again.
Melanie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and began to read. "Let's see. Not seeing a lot here, something about a life sized model of the Ark in Kentucky—" Abigail put the knife to Melanie's throat, "It says here you need to try to make nice with them!" She closed her eye, breathing in and out.
All was silent for a minute. "What does that mean?" Abigail demanded.
"I don't know." Melanie admitted frantic, "I guess, you need to get in their good graces if you want to get close enough to take the baby."
Abigail thought on that for a moment. "That actually makes sense." She raised the knife away from her Melanie's skin, but kept it in her general fascinate. Anything else?"
"Just something about southern regions." Melanie said softly.
"Southern regions?" Abigail repeated.
"That's all it says, I don't know, I'm sorry." Melanie rambled, "Please—please don't kill me."
Abigail stood up as she realized that now she had a witness to what she was planning. But she really didn't want to kill anyone, no one human at least. Besides, it wasn't like she gave Melanie enough information to give the Winchester warning…unless she did. Suddenly an idea formed in her head. Having her own personal sand diviner might be useful to her mission, "Do you have a car?"
The kids finally asleep, Reason and Maudie curled up in one of the study chairs and Serena Joy back on track to meet to Rawls, the only conscious people in the house were Sam and Hannah, who was sitting on the bathroom floor, but for the moment her nausea had subsided.
"Hey," Sam greeted her, walking in with a bottle of ginger ale and Pedialyte, "Though you could use these."
"Thank you." Hannah responded, taking the Pedialyte first and slowly shipping from the bottle.
Sam sat down next to her, saying, "You will not believe who I ran into while I was getting Dean's medicine. Have I ever told you about this friend of mine from school, Rebecca Warren?"
"She's the one with the brother, the one who was attack by the shape shift who looked like Dean." Hannah recounted, "Well back when he was-older."
"Yeah," Sam confirmed, "Apparently she was traveling to get back home." He shook his head in disbelief, "I haven't even thought about her in—I could 't even tells you when. That whole time, Hell, even getting back in the job—it seems like a lifetime ago now. Sometimes—I almost forget 'oh, yeah, that stuffed happened', "After a beat he asked, "Would it be weird if I said sometimes, I forget there was a –before this? You know, that there was a time that Dean and Cas were our brother, not our kids?"
"Not at all." Hannah told him, "In fact sometimes I forget too, that it wasn't always this way. " After a beat she added, "Of course there are also times, usually when Dean's running around with underwear or a grocery bag on his head, or I'm trying to convince Cas—who I don't know if you knew but back when he was an adult I sort of idolized-"
"Oh, I noticed." Sam told her, resisting the urge to laugh.
"-That there's not a monster in the toilet," Hannah continued, "-And occasionally when I've got my head hung over that same toilet, that I wonder 'how did we get here'?"
Sam chuckled. There were times that he wondered the same thing. "My 'how did we get here' moments usually when come when Cas can't pronounce 'popcorn' or 'I' or when Dean—who I don't know if you knew but back when he was an adult I sort of idolized-"
"Only after we talked about it," Hannah admitted.
"-Asks me to leave the hall light on, because his stuffed animals and/or Cas is scared." Sam continued," Also sometimes Coat. Also don't take the this the wrong way, I'm happy to do it, but when I'm getting raspberry jam at midnight."
Just then, as if on cue, a clock chimed from somewhere in the bunker.
"Speaking of which, I think we just rang in 2016." Sam declared, before kissing Hannah on the forehead.
The first thing Adele Owens were aware of as she came to was the sound of something cooking, sizzling. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw the rough dark brown of the bedroom in her cabin, light shining through from the window in the kitchen. Remember what happened the night before, she jolted into an upright position, looking back in froth in state of panic until her eyes landed on her son. Jerrod was curled up in the pull-out second of the gray wood framed trundle bed the shared, curled up under sheets and a red and blue quilt, his little body moving up and down as he breathed, clutching his teddy bear. Relieved, Adele rubbed her head, as it was throbbing from getting up so fast. She got up to Cal and a redhead she had never seen before in the kitchen, the redhead flips a pancake in her iron skillet. On the table was one plate full of hog jowl and another plate full of pancakes, with one of her syrup jugs in between them. When Cal saw she was up, he hurried around the table, asking, "How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?"
"All too well." Adele groaned, "And I feel like somebody put rocks in my head." After a moment she realized, "And my joints for that matter."
"Though you might," Cal responded, snatching a blue and white bottle off the table and handed it to her, "So, I ah, took the liberty of raiding some pain killers from your shed."
Adele smiled taking the bottle. "Not the only thing you helped yourself too, I see."
"Yeah, what was with all the pancake mix in there?" Charlie spoke up. She had got a peek inside Adele's shed and while there were a lot of things that it made sense for her to have up there, there were also a lot of things she couldn't figure out. "Also, can I ask about the paper plates?"
"Pancake mix lasts for decades, surprisingly enough, ditto with maple syrup." Adele explained, "Paper plates save on water. Just throw them in the fire when you're done." After a beat she came out with it, "Cal, not to sound ungrateful, but who is Reba McEntire, and what is she doing in my kitchen?"
"This is Charlie Bradbury, hunter." Cal answered, "When I found Jerod, I knew this was going to be bad, whatever it was, so I called in reinforcements, she was the nearest."
"As for what I doing in your kitchen," Charlie began, dispoiting the last pancake, "The doctors said you were fine, but we couldn't leave you along, so we hung around, tried to clean up the mess Griffin made, put the rain barrels upright, fixed the water purification system, rounded up the chickens, but we're still working on the pen, got your dew cloths down and rung out."
"And we figured you two would be hungry whenever you came to." Cal finished, "Hog Jowl for luck in the new year, right?" Adele had always been religious about Hog Jowl, cabbage and black eye peas on New Year's. Every year she would shove the stuff at him and Jerod, not their son, but his father, insisting they eat it.
"Right." Adele confirmed breaking into a smile, "Thanks guys." She was quiet for a moment, then she asked, "Is it true? What you said last night? Is Lyle dead."
"Yes." Cal responded, "Adele, I think we need to talk."
"It's really not part of my life I'd care to relive." Adele told him unscrewing the lid on the bottle before popping the pills in her mouth, dry swallowing.
"Yeah, I understand." Cal agreed, "But what I'm really more concerned about is are you still safe here?"
"Yeah, apparently Lyle wore out his welcome with his family and everyone else who was helping him." Adele explained, "And from what I heard of his phone calls most of his "colleges" from when I was a kid think he's lost him mind and/or are more concerned with covering their own asses, patron my French, from liability then 'elevating humanity'. He only found me by chance. Apparently, he also got a kick out of reading people minds just because he could, saw me in the memory of cashier of Kroger." After a beat she added, "I had to go down to get the hog jowl."
"So, what are you going to do now?" Charlie asked, putting a kettle of hot water on the table and mixing it into a cup of instant coffee.
"Well, first I fix the chicken pen." Adele responded, "Really you didn't have to do all that, thank you."
"Don't mention it," Charlie began, "But—no judgement—you're still gonna stay up here?"
"I didn't go off the grid because I was scared of Lyle Griffin." Adele told her, "I went off the grid because society keeps churning out people like Lyle Griffin, and the man that killed the love of my life for the paper in his wallet, and Hitler and Mussolini, and Mao and Minh and Scott Robertson and Evril LeBron and Warren Jeffs, and Alfred Kinsey and Marquis De Sade and every allergy tester alive. I was just—done. With the monsters in the dark, or the human ones that can go around in board daylight. Look around, you've had to have seen it. Sure, you can try to make it better, and I did. We did. It didn't work. Something's gone wrong down deep that no one wants to admit. And I don't want a part of it anymore. And my son's not going to be a part of it. At least until he can decide for himself. I'll make sure he's informed enough to make the decision."
The air lingered heavy for a minute, then there was the pitter patter of tiny feet and a voice happily calling out, "Mommy!"
Adele scooped her son up in her arms. "Hey there Little Bear." She held him close to him.
"Uncle Cal and Charlie found you." Jerod smiled.
"Yeah, they did." Adele declared, pulling him close, his head resting on her shoulder, "And Mommy's not going to leave you like that again. Not as long as she's solid and fleshy. Now, what do you say to Uncle Cal and Charlie?"
Jerod looked up. "Thank you."
"No problem little guy," Cal assured him, "Now, come on let's get some grub." As they walked to the table Cal whispered to Adele, "I might have, uh, had a few little Christmas-New Year type presents with me when I found him."
"Did you hear that, Jerod?" Adele asked, as the little boy's face lit up.
Back at the bunker, Dean was feeling better, but they were still making the little guy take it easy for bit longer. Cas, however, was still a mess with his wings, on his stomach as Sam rubbed more cream on.
"Still want to have wings, Dean?" Sam quipped, thinking after seeing all this, Dean had to be over his jealous fit.
"Yes." Dean declared, crossing his arms.
Sam sighed. Finishing with Cas, he walked went back over to the doorway where Dean had been watching, crouching down. "Why do you want wings so badly all of a sudden?"
"Well, Cas and the baby and Mommy all have wings!" Dean reasoned.
That last part surprised Sam. "Dean, how do you know Mommy doesn't have wings?"
"Cas told me." Dean answered, "I'll be the only one without wings."
"Dean, we don't know for sure if the baby's gonna have wings, yet." Sam told him, "I might, but it might not. "According to both the American and Italian archives, Nephilim were always more powerful than their parents, there had been documented cases of Nephilim not having wings. Jane hadn't had wings. "And besides I don't have wings, right? Has Cas ever said anything about me having wings?"
Dean shook his head. "No."
"And Cas would've told you if I had wings you couldn't see, right?" Sam reasoned.
"Yes." Dean agreed.
"So not having wings isn't that big a deal, right?" Sam went on.
"But why do they get to be special?" Dean lamented.
Something accrued to Sam. "Well, they're not all that special, bud. See, remember how we talked about how Mommy and Cas are something called angels?"
Dean nodded.
"Well, you see, all angels have wings." Sam reasoned, "So for angels, having wings isn't special. Mommy and Cas are normal for what they are. I mean, they're special to us because we love them." Plus, Cas' wings are solid and actually work. But you don't need to know that right now.
"Am I special to you to because you love me?" Dean asked.
"Of course, you are." Sam answered, pulling his little guy into a hug, stomach bug be dammed.
"You're special to me too, Daddy!" Sam declared, "Because I love you."
"I love you too bud." Sam said before letting him go.
Dean went over to their toy bin, pulling out Domino and dragging him over to Cas' bed.
"Ah, Dean what are you doing?" Sam asked.
"I'm trying to make Cas' feel better." Dean explained, going back and pulling out Oddball as well.
Five minutes later, little human and a little angel were giggling in a big pile of toys while their parents watched.