Raising Winchesters

Chapter 33

Where we left off last chapter….

"He's got a pulse, John. And he's breathing on his own again." Stitch felt for a pulse again, just to confirm what he'd just told John. When he felt the steady thrum under his fingers, he straightened up and looked over at both John and Jim. "We need to figure this out. If that happens again, I don't think I can get him back. He's too weak."

"We're doing what we can, Stitch," Jim said quietly.

"Well, it's not enough, Murphy. The kid doesn't have a whole lot of time left."

Before anyone could say anything else, Bobby burst through the bedroom door. "We got him!" he nearly yelled, completely missing the pained look on everyone's faces. "Did you hear me, John? We got him. He's out in the garage."

Pulsatio et omnis spiritus diminuit

Heartbeat and every breath diminishes

Pulsatio et omnis spiritus diminuit

Heartbeat and every breath diminishes

John looked at Bobby like the man wasn't making sense. Bobby wanted to step over to the man and shake him until he came around, but just as he was about to do that, John shook his head as if shaking cobwebs from his head and turned to look at him.

"We got him? Where is he?"

"He's in the garage. He's not talking yet."

"Who's watching him? Is he secure?"

"Caleb's on him, John. You know he'll keep him secure."

Bobby knew that John had a lot of faith in the younger hunter, but he also knew that the man wasn't about to leave any part of this situation to chance. In fact, he was surprised John wasn't already on his way to the garage. It only took one look around the room to figure out why that was.

"What happened?" he asked, taking in the distraught and devastated looks on Sam's and Jim's faces before looking over at the bed. "Is he okay?"

"No," John answered curtly as he moved towards the door. "He's far from okay, Bobby. He's dying."

Bobby watched John leave and then looked over at Stitch, who was still standing next to the bed. "Stitch?"

"He's out of time, Bobby. We lost him for a few minutes. The next time- and there will be a next time- I won't be able to bring him back. We need to fix this now."

Without another word, Bobby turned and followed John out the door.

Titus Walsh was tired. He was tired of being someone's pawn and he was tired of watching the people he cared about die. And they were all dying, one by one. He didn't want to admit it, but it was his fault. He cursed the day he'd met Nora Doherty and would give anything to be able to go back to that day and walk away from her.

They'd met in a small coffee shop in Canton, Ohio and he remembered feeling an instant attraction to her. He didn't know it at the time, but that attraction was anything but genuine. In fact, it only manifested because Nora was a witch and knew just how to draw someone's attention to her when she wanted to. He found out later- when it was much too late to change anything- that Nora had her sights set on him months ahead of them actually meeting. She knew all about him. She knew what he was.

Titus Walsh came from a long line of Naguals. He was proud of his heritage, but he and his people always kept a low profile, never drawing unnecessary attention to themselves. They chose to live anonymously and humbly amongst their fellow men. And that had been working well for them until the moment Nora found them.

Naguals had been around for thousands of years. Due to the fact that they tried to go unnoticed, most ordinary people lived their lives never even knowing they existed. Of course, there were some Naguals that didn't try to live their lives in such a way. There were some that liked to wreak havoc on the humans around them and drew their energy from the evil they created.

Titus knew now that that was how Nora found them. Their family had recently been dealing with several younger Naguals that didn't want to abide by the rules of the group. These youngsters had been causing trouble, bringing unwanted attention to their family, and Titus had been working to assuage the trouble that was brewing. He thought he'd just about had it in hand when all hell broke loose.

Well, maybe it wasn't hell, actually. Maybe it was more like one Dean Winchester.

Titus wasn't sure what had happened that night, but he was sure of the outcome. Two of his people were dead, shot efficiently and effectively by a young boy who had no business being so efficient with a gun. Titus suspected that their deaths weren't born out of malice. If he wagered a guess, he figured the two young Naguals were the ones responsible for the shooting and that Dean was only protecting himself and his brother. Not that that made much of a difference to his people in the end.

Once everyone found out what had happened, Dean Winchester became enemy number one to his people. From that point on, Dean's life was in the hands of quite a few furious and agitated Naguals, who were mourning the premature loss of two of their own. At first, Titus thought he could handle it all. But then fate intervened, bringing Nora into his life.

She was quick to ensure that the Naguals were indebted to her, starting with Titus himself, but by the time he had figured out what she was doing, it was too late. Wheels had been set in motion and there was no way to keep them from plowing down everything in their path.

Nora could feel the walls falling down around her, but she was determined to do whatever it took to make sure her plan was carried out. There was a part of her deep down inside that felt guilty for what she was doing to John Winchester's son, who really was innocent in everything. But all she had to do was think about her own son, whose life was cut short by the carelessness of a man driven by revenge and anger to hunt things he deemed evil.

John Winchester had to pay for what he'd done to her family. She was going to make sure he paid. And if him paying for the wrongs he'd dealt to her meant that his son died, then so be it. The end justified the means, or so the saying went.

John burst into the garage like a madman. He quickly looked around the room, taking in the sight of Caleb standing in one corner and Walt in the other. Another hunter had been posted outside the garage.

Once John was satisfied with the security of the room, he looked over to the man sitting in the middle of it. John instantly recognized the man sitting in the chair and he felt a sudden urge to shoot him. Luckily, he didn't have his gun on him.

"Where is she?" he immediately asked, his voice thundering in the small room. Titus jumped at the sound, pulling against the rope that was holding him down. When he didn't answer, John surged forward and grabbed him by the hair, pulling his head back uncomfortably. "I don't have time for this. Where the hell is she?"

Bobby stepped forward and tried to pull John back, but the man fought him. "John! Let him go!"

John maintained his grip on the man, his eyes never leaving him. "No! I want answers. I need answers."

He lifted his fist, aiming to punch an answer out of the man if he had to, but Titus finally spoke. "I don't know where she is, but I might know how to help your boy."

Everything in the garage came to an abrupt standstill. John lowered his fist and loosened his grip somewhat. "What do you mean?" he instantly asked.

Titus pulled his head forward, leaving John clutching a few strands of his hair. He looked around the room before his eyes landed on Bobby. "You heard the spell, right?"

"Yeah," Bobby answered. "It's a binding spell. And there's a little boy upstairs in that house that is feeling the effects of it. He's not doing good."

"I know," Titus answered. "I've felt the effects of the spell myself and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Let alone an innocent little kid."

Bobby eyed him shrewdly. "Why isn't it effecting you the same way? We saw it. The blue light enveloped you, too."

Once again, Titus looked around the room, but this time his eyes landed back on John. John was just about to raise his fist again, when Titus looked down at his chest. "The amulet," he said, his eyes landing on a necklace that was inside of his shirt.

John reached forward and grabbed the necklace, pulling it out of the shirt and examining it. "What about it?" he asked.

By that time, Bobby had moved forward, too. He reached out and took the amulet out of John's hands, inspecting it closely. "I've seen something like this before," he finally said. "It preserves a bond between two people."

"How does it help Dean?" John asked.

"John, this amulet is sustaining the bond between the witch and Titus. It's keeping him from feeling the effects of being away from her. I think it can do the same for Dean."

"Is that right?" John asked Titus. "Will it work on Dean?"

Titus took a deep breath before answering. "I don't know. I think so, though. She placed a spell on it, but I don't think it's specific to me."

"Do you remember the spell?" Bobby asked, trying to contain his excitement.

"Not really? I don't speak Latin. I think it said something about sanctuary, though. And it was definitely a blood spell. She used her own blood."

Bobby and John shared a long look, both realizing that the amulet really might help Dean.

"Caleb, untie him," John demanded. Once he was untied, John stepped over and took the gun that Walt was holding. "Caleb, you and Walt stay outside and secure the perimeter. He probably has people looking for him."

After the two hunters left to join the other hunter outside, John motioned for Bobby to take the lead. With Titus in between them, they made their way to the house.

Bobby led Titus into the bedroom. "Jim, take Sam out, okay?"

"No!" Sam cried. "No! I want to stay with Dean."

"Sam! Go with Jim," John growled at his youngest son as soon as he stepped into the room. "Now!"

Jim reached for Sam's hand and practically dragged him out of the room. Everyone in the room could hear Sam crying all the way down the stairs.

"Give me the amulet," John demanded as soon as the crying was no longer discernible.

"John, wait. We don't know if it will work on Dean. We need to think about this for a minute."

John looked at Bobby as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head. "We don't have time for that, Bobby. Dean needs help now."

"But it could hurt him more than help him, John."

John looked over at Stitch, but the man didn't have a clue as to what was going on. "He has a blood amulet with her blood in it. It's protecting him from the effects of the binding spell."

"And you want to see if it transfers over to Dean," Stitch replied.

"It's our only play right now, isn't it? You said it yourself, Dean's running out of time."

"John, wait…. Let me call Betsy. She'll know more about the spell and the amulet than we do."

"We don't have time," John said again, his frustration growing exponentially with every passing second.

"I just need a few minutes. Just give me a few minutes, John. Please." Bobby stepped out of the room and John just watched him go before turning his attention back to his son.

"How is he?"

"He's holding his own for now. Hasn't woken up yet, but that's okay. His body needs to conserve energy." Stitch looked over at Titus. "John, what if we just let him come closer to the bed. Maybe the amulet's powers can help from a distance."

John wasn't convinced that it was a good idea, but he was out of ideas himself. "Watch Dean, Stitch. The first sign of trouble, Titus backs off."

Titus took a few steps closer to the bed and knelt down on the floor. Stitch put one hand on Dean's chest and used the fingers of his other hand to check Dean's pulse. John stayed exactly where he was, his gun pointed at Titus' head and his eyes on his son.

Almost five whole minutes went by before Bobby returned. In that time, Stitch reported that he thought Dean's respirations were a little less labored and his heartbeat a little less erratic.

The second Bobby entered the room, John bombarded him with questions. "What did she say? Will it work? What do we do?"

Bobby held up his hand, trying to put a stop to John's rapid fire questions. "She's not sure, John. She wants to see the amulet first. Examine it."

"We don't have time for that," John argued.

"She's just a few miles away, John. She was already on her way back, so she'll be here in less than ten minutes. How's he doing?" It didn't escape his notice that Titus was closer to Dean's bed than even John was.

"About the same," Stitch answered. "I'm not sure, but having the amulet close might be lessening some of the effects of the binding spell. At least a little."

Bobby's eyes widened at that and he felt a flash of hope surge through him. He could see the faintest glimmer of hope in John's eyes, too, and it nearly broke his heart. Not being much of the praying type, it surprised him when he found himself saying a prayer for Dean. It also surprised him when his legs threatened to give out on him. "I need a drink," he mumbled before moving over to sit in the desk chair.

John glanced over at him, but his eyes never strayed too long from his son. Everyone in the room could tell that the man was still just barely holding on.

Author's note: Woo hoo! Another chapter in less than a month. And I think it's a good one, too. At least, it moves the story along a little more.

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. You all are awesome and amazing. Please take care of yourselves and those around you. Be kind to one another. ;)