Chapter 5: The New Constitution
We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fold, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again, no, no
I'll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
Though I know that the hypnotized never lie
There's nothing in the streets
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again, no, no
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
Ultimately, they could only avoid the rest of the world for so long. Later, when they both agreed that the need for breakfast was pressing enough to warrant leaving the bed and getting dressed, having completely missed dinner the night before, Dean ventured into some casual conversation, hoping it wouldn't lead straight back to their previous feud.
"So...they let you through the airport with those guns?" he quipped as he laid on his stomach on the bed, eyeing Ty's now more muscular arms as she pulled a clean shirt on.
"What?" Ty asked, briefly puzzled before she realized what he was talking about. She made a face at his lame joke before glancing down at her arms, "Digging up and hauling dirt for six weeks straight will do that to you, I guess."
"Right. The field school." Dean said, trying to keep any emotion from his voice, knowing he was back in the minefield so to speak, "How was it?"
"Good." Ty shrugged noncommittally, also unwilling to tread into dangerous waters. The following silence was awkward so Ty forced herself to continue, "We...uh...found a vampire burial."
Dean pushed himself up to sit on the bed, intrigued despite himself, "A what?"
Ty smiled, relaxing a little into the conversation, "Not a real one. I mean, not a real vampire. They call it that because they pierced the corpse with a stake to keep it in the grave and the interpretation is that they thought the person would come back as something like a vampire if they didn't stop it."
"Huh." Dean said, "That's kinda...cool."
Ty practically beamed at him as she nodded her agreement and Dean had to admit, he really liked when she looked like that, and enjoyed being able to cause her to look like that. It was just such an innocent joyful expression, one that you wouldn't think someone who had been through what she had and lived the life they did would be able to wear. When he saw it, it made him feel, somewhere deep down, like maybe there was a possibility for him to have that, too, someday.
Dean cleared his throat and turned his attention to pulling his own clothes back on to cover any awkward emotion that might have shone on his face, "Remind me to tell you about this hunt Sam and I had with an Ancient Greek zombie chick. Seems right up your alley."
Ty's eyes widened and her mouth opened to immediately launch into a million questions about that, but Dean must have seen her intention, because he interrupted her before she could get a word out, "Later. Food, remember?"
"If we must." Ty practically pouted and heaved a put-upon sigh even though her own stomach was rumbling just hearing the word 'food.' But what did he expect when he uttered a phrase that combined two of her top ten interests?
"Well, I'm starving. You seen my shirt?"
Ty's eyes flew to Dean's bare chest, once again taking in the familiar old pendant and the new addition since they'd last been together, the anti-demon tattoo, before forcing herself to glance around the room and rake her memory for where Dean's shirt had ended up. Oh. That was right.
"Um...I'm pretty sure it didn't make it up here." she admitted, a little embarrassed by how...enthusiastic...she'd been. To cover, she spun back around and pulled a drawer of her dresser open, "I think I've got something that'll fit you."
Ty pulled a t-shirt out and tossed it to Dean. He pulled it on, then frowned as he looked down at the character across the front.
"What the hell is this thing?" He asked, gesturing at the large, furry, round animated creature printed across the chest.
Ty glanced at the shirt, then back up at him, eyebrows raised slightly in surprise, "That's Totoro. You know, from My Neighbor, Totoro."
"Looks like something I'd hunt." Dean scoffed.
Ty glared at him, "You are not hunting Totoro."
Dean shot her a smirk over his shoulder before heading towards the door. The familiar banter felt like progress, like getting back to how things had been, so Dean pressed on, "Yeah, I'd totally smoke that bitch."
"Dean!" Ty protested, chasing after him, but despite her protests she was grinning, too.
When the two reached the bottom of the stairs, both grinning and not trying to either murder each other or tear each other's clothes off, they were met by Sam's raised eyebrows from where he was seated in the living room and Bobby's derisive scoff from his spot at his desk where he was looking over something and jotting notes. Ty pushed past Dean to greet the younger Winchester.
"Sam." She said, stretching her arms out to give him a hug. She tried to keep the smile on her face, focus on how glad she was to see him, but as he stood up to hug her back, her smile slipped as thoughts of what he'd been through and who he'd lost since she last saw him intruded on her happiness.
"Glad you're okay." Sam said into her hair.
Ty pulled back, attempting another smile as she looked up at him but not quite succeeding, "Yeah, you too."
Seeing the look on her face and knowing what she was thinking, Sam pulled back and glanced away. Taking a page out of Dean's book, he cleared his throat and changed the subject, "So...uh...what happened with your hunt? Bobby didn't really give us the details."
Ty glanced over her shoulder at Bobby who was still ignoring her, "He didn't, huh? Gee, thanks, Bobby."
"I don't do storytime." Bobby grunted in response, flipping a page and making another note.
"But you do do pancakes, right?" Ty replied, sending him a hopeful expression, knowing he could feel her gaze on him and stubbornly waiting him out.
He finally sighed and looked up, swearing when he saw her looking at him like that.
"Goddammit, girl." he swore, "Breakfast was an hour ago. I ain't freakin' room service."
But despite his words, he was getting up and heading for the kitchen. Ty smiled after him and called with faux-sweetness, "Thank you, Bobby! I love you!"
More swearing and the sounds of pots and pans banging against each other was the only reply from the kitchen. Ty chuckled to herself and turned back to face the Winchesters to find they were both staring at her with wide-eyed amazement.
"How did you do that?" Dean asked, "Last time I asked him for more than a beer, he threw a wrench at my head."
Sam nodded in mute agreement. Even when they'd been kids, Bobby had always been more of a 'you got two working hands, do it yourself' kind of guy. Even with all the swearing and complaining, this was practically doting when it came to Bobby Singer.
Ty just shrugged, but she looked rather pleased with herself as she perched on Bobby's armchair and gestured for the boys to have a seat. Dean moved to join Sam on the couch. Sam did a double-take when he got a closer look at the shirt his brother had on.
"Dude, what are you wearing?"
"Shut up. It's hers. All my stuff's still in the car." Dean snapped back, shoving Sam out of the way so he could take up his preferred spot.
Sam opened his mouth to reply, but Ty cut him off, "Settle down, children. Like Bobby said, it's storytime."
With that Ty gave them the recap on the Gjenganger hunt, although she omitted the part about the ashes in Bobby's healing ritual, unwilling to even think about that much less speak the words aloud. Dean didn't comment at all while she spoke, slouching on the couch and eyes roaming distractedly around the room like he was disinterested, but she could see his jaw clenching.
"Can I see?" Sam asked, gesturing at her wrist.
Ty sighed, wishing she'd put her wrist guard back on, but held her arm out for inspection. Sam stood, moving around the coffee table to examine the mark.
"Does it hurt?" he asked, looking up from her arm sympathetically.
Ty shook her head, "Nah, not anymore. It just doesn't seem to be going away. Guess it's my latest accessory."
She pulled her hand back and folded her arms over her chest so her wrist was hidden from view, feeling self-conscious. Dean still hadn't said anything and she sort of wished he would make some smartass remark or something. Something she could get pissed at him about and they could argue over instead of broaching the subject she felt had to come next. She had already heard some of it from Bobby, but she had to hear it from them.
"So...will you guys finally tell me what's going on...what happened?"
Sam stiffened and turned towards Dean. Dean only met his gaze for a moment before looking away, fixing his gaze on a spot on the carpet near his shoes. He'd give just about anything not to have this conversation, but Sam had been right in the car on the way here, he couldn't avoid it forever. Keeping his voice carefully devoid of any emotions, he recounted the events as briefly as he could. The whole time he could feel the weight of Sam's gaze, feel him disapproving of how much Dean was leaving unsaid, as well as the weight of Ty's, heavy with concern and sympathy. He tried to ignore them both.
"So...uh...highlight reel? Sam and the other wonder kids were supposed to duke it out and last one standing would open a portal to hell called the Devil's Gate, free this big baddie Lilith, and lead some demon army. They took Sam. Dad and I tried to get him back, but...it didn't go well and Sam... I don't know exactly how it went down but Dad must have made a deal, bargained for Sam's life 'cause the next thing I knew, he was gone. In the meantime, demons used the other kid to open the gate. Don't know how many got out or what Lilith is up to, but it can't be good. So far we've already run up against the freaking Seven Deadly Sins, so yeah something real bad is coming."
"Dean…" Sam began.
"And you guys are okay?" Ty asked at the same time.
Dean chose to ignore Sam in favor of Ty's question. He flashed her a grin that didn't reach his eyes, "I'm fine. I just want to get back to killing some of these evil sons of bitches so...you wanna give us a hand with leads?"
Ty wasn't buying that he was fine, not for a second, and it was clear that Sam wasn't either, but she was relieved that he was finally talking to her, offering to let her in on the problem, so she let it go for now.
"Of course." She nodded.
She had a million more questions, not the least of which was about what Dean meant about the Seven Deadly Sins, but before she had a chance to ask, Sam interjected.
Frustrated at being ignored and unable to restrain himself any longer, Sam stood abruptly, jaw clenched, "I need to talk to you. Outside."
Glancing up at his brother, Dean continued to project nonchalance, "Sure, Sam, but can't it wait until after pancakes?"
"No." Sam snapped and immediately stomped towards the door, clearly expecting him to follow.
Dean sighed and got to his feet, shooting a glance at Ty before heading after Sam, "You better save me some."
Ty nodded, mutely, still trying to process everything, but also wondering how much she still didn't know. Judging by Sam's reaction, there were still clearly some important issues she was in the dark over. She could also still feel anger simmering underneath it all as she thought about how much had been kept from her, but she tried not to let it boil to the surface. Now wasn't the time for that. No, for right now all she really wanted to do was get caught up on this new danger, get back in the game. For that, she'd need Bobby.
Getting back to her feet and heading for the kitchen she figured she could get pancakes and info at the same time.
Meanwhile, Sam's angry voice greeted Dean the second he stepped outside.
"This strong silent thing of yours is crap. I'm over it."
"Oh, god." Dean groaned, definitely not in the mood for this. There should be a rule that he only had to deal with drama from either Ty or Sam in any given 24-hour period, not both.
"That bullshit act of yours in there? What the hell was that? I mean, this isn't just anyone we're talking about. This is Dad. I know how you felt about the man. But you just glossed over his death like it was nothing!"
"You know what, back off, alright? Just because I'm not caring and sharing like you want me to..."
"No, no, no. That's not what this is about, Dean. I don't care how you deal with this, but you have to deal with it, man." Sam paused, waiting for his brother to respond. When he didn't, he pressed on, "Listen, I'm your brother, alright? I just want to make sure you're okay."
"Dude, I'm okay! I'm okay! I swear, the next person that asks me if I'm okay, I'm going to start throwing punches. These are your issues. Quit dumping them on me."
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, genuinely surprised by Dean's comment.
"Sam, you spent your entire life slugging it out with that man. I mean, hell, you picked a fight with him practically the last time you ever saw him, and now that he's dead, what? Now you think you can make it right? Well, I'm sorry, Sam, but it's too little, too late."
"Why are you saying this to me?" Sam asked, his guilt over John's death swelling, certain he was about to hear his brother confirm his fears and tell him it was, indeed, all his fault.
"Because I want you to be honest with yourself about this!" Dean snapped, finally releasing some of the emotion he'd been keeping so tightly in check, "I'm dealing with Dad's death. Are you?"
Sam couldn't respond to the question because Dean wasn't totally off the mark. He wasn't dealing, wasn't sure he even knew how. Especially not when he could almost hear the accusation in his brother's words, see it in his eyes, every time they even got close to the subject. Sam swallowed hard and took a moment until he was sure his voice wouldn't break when he finally spoke again.
"I'm gonna go check in with Ash. See what he's got on Lilith."
Dean just watched him go, wishing he either had a drink or something to shoot in front of him. Deciding he needed some space, he stalked off towards the Impala, figuring he'd change his shirt, drive into town, and kill a few hours there.
Sam however, did not go call Ash. As soon as he was sure Dean was gone, he called Ruby, instead.
"Sam, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Ruby drawled on the other line.
"I need information."
"So not a booty call then?"
Sam forced his jaw to unclench, "You said you could fix the Colt, figure out who made the deal with my dad, help us with this war. Either start helping or I start hunting you."
"Tall and pushy. You really are a dreamboat, Sam."
"Ruby…"
"Okay, okay. I've got something. I can be there tomorrow and I'll fix the Colt then."
Sam paused, "You know where I am."
It wasn't really a question. He could almost see Ruby's smirk even over the phone, "Of course I do. See you soon."
Meanwhile, Ty was alternating between shoveling pancakes in her mouth and reading through Bobby's best source on Lilith. She tried to make sure not to get any food on the book because Bobby was already annoyed that she was multitasking in this manner and she knew he hated it when people damaged his books. Nevermind that Ty had repeatedly pointed out that they would stay in better condition if Bobby kept them all on bookshelves instead of piled haphazardly all over the place. Bobby claimed that would mess with his system and the grumpy hunter was probably one of the few people she knew who was actually more stubborn than her.
So far Ty had found out that Lilith was the first demon created by Lucifer. According to this source, Lucifer was imprisoned by God for creating her, so Lilith had basically been in charge of Hell. As for why she'd apparently been trapped down under until the Devil's Gate was opened or what she wanted now, the book had nothing. Ty frowned, flipping back and forth, hoping that maybe she'd missed something, but nope, that was it.
"This isn't much to go on, Bobby." she commented.
"You think I don't know that?" Bobby snapped. He ran a hand over his face and sighed, "I'm outta ideas, kid. All I can think to do is keep tracking omens, try and take down some of these demons, and maybe see if any of them knows something in the process."
"Okay…" Ty said, "but how do we take down that many demons? That's a lot of exorcisms, Bobby."
"The only other thing I know of that can kill a demon was the Colt, but we don't have any shots left." Bobby growled in frustration, "I'm gonna take that damn thing apart and see if I can figure out what makes it tick."
"And that's it? You haven't heard of anything else that might work? I'm willing to go out on a limb here." Ty pressed.
In her own research on demons, she hadn't found anything, but she still hoped Bobby might know something she didn't.
"Well, now that you mention it, Sam said he saw someone kill demons with a knife, but no blade I've ever heard of could do that."
Ty's frown deepened, "So we've got a gun that doesn't work and a knife that may or may not exist."
"That's about the long and short of it." Bobby agreed.
Ty let that sink in for a moment and tried not to conclude that they were all going to die. She'd definitely lost her appetite.
She stood up and announced, "I'm going to call Alex and have him come back. We need all the help we can get."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Bobby called after her, "Who's gonna clean this up?"
Ty didn't stop or turn around but called back over her shoulder, "That's what Dean's for."
"Damn kids." Bobby grumbled, knowing there was about a snowball's chance in hell that Dean would pick up after himself even if he did come in and finish off the rest of the food.
Adding a few more swears under his breath for good measure, he pushed himself up and started filling the sink.
By the time Alex arrived that afternoon, the three younger hunters were back together. Tension still hung in the air between them over their various unresolved issues, but by unspoken agreement, no one was broaching those topics for now. Instead they had been swapping hunting stories from their time apart while combing the internet and newspapers for any demonic omens. Bobby, meanwhile, was running through his list of contacts for any leads. It hadn't taken long to find that the general consensus among the hunter community was that it was the Winchesters' fault the gate had opened so Bobby had relocated to another room out of earshot to try and gather intel without tipping his hat that he was working with the boys. Of course, he hadn't exactly lowered his voice when he'd walked out of the room saying, "Those boys? Couple of damn idjits."
Ty smirked at the brothers who both looked after Bobby with indignant expressions. She was about to add a witty remark, when the familiar sound of tires on gravel and an old engine rumbling closer reached her from outside. Knowing it had to be Alex, she got up to go greet him, not wanting to waste any time getting him up to speed.
Sam and Dean exchanged a look as Ty headed out the front door. Sam shrugged so Dean got up to go follow her and see what was up. As he walked up behind her on the porch, he frowned when he saw Alex parking his truck next to his baby.
"What's he doing here?"
"I called him." Ty answered simply as she started down the porch steps to go meet him.
"Well, what did you call him for?" Dean grumbled, eyeing the pickup truck with clear distaste.
"He's my hunting partner and if this has something to do with demons, then he should be a part of it." Ty replied, pausing on the steps, annoyed and confused by Dean's attitude, "Besides, don't we need all the help we can get?"
Dean didn't answer because he knew she was right, but it still rankled that she had turned to someone else, let someone else into her life like that. And it would be one thing if the guy knew what he was doing, but the freaking rookie had almost let her get killed by a spook! So, yeah, there was no good reason for her to trust him so much that she felt she needed to bring him in on this and that's why he disliked the guy. There was nothing else to it. Plus, his truck was lame.
"Alex!" Ty called in greeting as the other man approached her, pulling Dean out of his thoughts.
However, his mood only darkened when Alex walked over and gave her a big hug. He knew Ty wasn't naturally a very touchy-feely person so that familiar hug was meaningful.
"Hey, tiger. How's the wrist?"
Ty made a face as she stepped back from his embrace, "It's fine. Come on, let's go inside. We've got bigger problems."
She led the way back inside, Alex on her heels. Dean trailed after, making a face of his own.
"Tiger…" he muttered derisively under his breath.
Once inside the house, he moved over next to Ty while Alex greeted Sam.
"Hey, did he just call you tiger?" Dean asked quietly so the others wouldn't overhear.
Ty looked slightly embarrassed, but shrugged, "It's his stupid nickname for me. Ty-ger. Get it?"
Dean made a noncommittal noise in response, refusing to let on how much he hated that Alex had a pet-name for her, but he found he was grinding his teeth the more he thought about it. He'd known they'd been hunting together, but it was quickly becoming apparent that they'd become really close during that time, as well. Between that and all the other drama going on...well, it was time for a beer.
"Well, I don't feel like going through this again for the rookie." Dean announced, "You two get him caught up, I'm going to work on the car."
Dean then made a beeline for the kitchen, grabbed a beer, then turned around and marched back through the house for the front door. Everyone was looking at him like he was nuts so he lifted his beer, figuring that was enough explanation, and ducked back outside. When in doubt, booze and his car were tried and trusted go-tos.
"What's eating him?" Alex asked, still staring after the older Winchester.
"You don't want to open that can of worms." Sam advised, "Besides, we've got other problems."
"Yeah, you Winchesters always seem to have plenty of those. I heard about some of it at the Roadhouse, but why don't you give me the full story." Alex said, plopping down on the couch.
Ty took the lead, figuring it was bad enough Sam had already had to have this discussion once today. He piped up a few times with a couple of extra details, but seemed fine with letting her do most of the talking. She noticed he seemed to be keeping his eyes focused pretty firmly on his laptop even though he wasn't typing or anything. She felt her chest growing tight again with a tangle of emotions: frustration, regret, sympathy, anger. At the moment, she felt like she was almost seeing Sam the way Dean did, as a vulnerable kid who needed to be protected and she hated that she hadn't been there to at least try.
'Stop it, Ty.' she mentally chastised herself, 'Sam is older, stronger, more experienced, and probably smarter than you. He certainly doesn't need you mother-henning him. He's already got Dean for that.'
She turned her attention to Alex instead and found he wasn't fairing much better after hearing about the Devil's Gate. He was sitting on the edge of the couch, his hands fisted so tightly in his lap that his knuckles were white.
"Alex?" she asked, wondering what was causing such an extreme reaction from the younger hunter.
Alex caught her gaze, his own eyes flashing with anger, "You know it had to have gotten out, too, right? The demon. The one that…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but he didn't have to. Ty froze. It hadn't occurred to her before, but she knew he had to be right. The demon that possessed her and killed his parents was out there again. As if things weren't bad enough already. Maybe Dean hadn't been wrong about grabbing a beer.
"Shit." Ty finally said.
