Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, not gettin' paid for this.

A/N: This is a pretty short chapter, but some important things are made more clear. At least I hope they are. Thanks for the reviews and the private messages. I haven't thanked Kelli in a while publicly, but she's going above and beyond lately. She's reading my stuff while getting ready for a major move – her husband got a new job so off they go to a new state.

Scars from the Past

Chapter 9

He smiled at Ellen, amused that she would try to use her powers against him.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked. "You're seriously trying to cast a spell? Have you no idea what I am?"

Ellen found herself held on the couch, unable to move. He stood in front of her.

"Do you really think the body that stands before you is mine? I don't have a real body; I merely possess them when I need corporeal form. If you hurt this body, I simply move on to the next one."

"What was the point of having me do all that work to get his son, only to let him go?" Ellen asked, hoping to stall until she had time to find a way out of the hotel suite.

"You have that figured out." He looked at her, becoming bored. "Yes, I can read your thoughts. And you thought it yourself; I did it to hurt John. I have plans for his sons, especially the youngest one, and John has interfered at every step. He's making things much harder than they need to be."

"Why don't you just kill him?"

"That would create more problems than it would solve." he said mysteriously. "So I take every opportunity to hurt him. The boy had to go back to him, relatively unharmed, to satisfy what I will need him for later."

"What do you have against John Winchester?"

He looked at her curiously. "What do I have against him? He's trying to destroy me. I find that irritating."

"What did you do to him?"

"He doesn't need a wrong done against him to have a vendetta. You're the one who calls him a Boy Scout, so you should understand that." He said, then sighed. "But in this case, he does have a reason. I killed his wife."

Ellen's eyes widened.

He grinned. "So now you understand."

Ellen realized she had lost total control of the situation, if she'd ever had any. She knew now she never should have gotten involved in something she didn't totally understand; especially when she had nothing to gain from her involvement. She had nothing against John Winchester. At the very least, this arrangement would get her a very powerful enemy. At the worst…

"So, back to not liking loose ends." he smiled. Before Ellen knew what was happening, invisible hands pulled her from the couch and pushed her against the wall. Impossibly, she floated to the ceiling and the last thing she saw before bursting into flames was the demon looking up at her and smiling.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Dean was taken out of his room for a battery of tests the doctor wanted run before agreeing to release him. John sat in a corner of the hospital cafeteria with Jim; they had gotten a call from Caleb earlier and were waiting for him to join them.

John was struggling; part of him wanted to play the part of the concerned father and stay close to his son. Another part of him wanted vengeance against the man who dared hurt his boy. Jim didn't think he would be able to talk John out of hurting him like he'd been able to years before. Generally, John was a principled man and hurting humans was not something he easily would do. But in his mind, Wally was no longer human.

Jim looked toward the door when he saw Caleb enter. He looked as tired as they all felt.

"How's Dean?"

"The doctor says he'll be fine." John began, staring into a cup of coffee he had yet to touch. "He wanted to run some tests before signing the release papers, but he thinks I'll be able to take him home this afternoon."

"That's good."

"Did you find Wally or Ellen?" John asked.

"Yes and no. I've got a virtual army out looking for Wally. He won't be able to hide forever. Ellen, though –" he looked at John. "Ellen is dead."

"What happened?" John asked, finally looking up.

Caleb glanced at Jim. "She rented a suite in the Galaxia Hotel late last night."

"And?" John prompted.

Caleb looked into his eyes. "There was a fire in the hotel."

"A fire." John said, numb.

"It started in her suite." Caleb said. "It's not like anything the firemen had ever seen."

"What are you saying, Caleb?" John knew, but needed to hear the words.

"She was killed by the same thing that killed your wife."

John rubbed his face. "Does this mean she was working with it, or against it?"

"I don't know. But I can't imagine the thing would rip your family apart and then get angry when someone else wanted to cause some trouble for you."

"We don't know that for sure." Jim said.

"We have to find Wally." John said, about to stand.

Caleb placed a hand on his wrist. "You need to stay here with Dean. I'll find Wally."

"I'm not going to just sit by while you –"

"Let me do the leg work. I'll find him, then bring you in."

John looked uncertain.

"Your son needs you, John. Stay with him."

They looked at each other.

"Wait a second." Jim said. "What is it that you two are planning?"

"What we should have done before." John said.

"No, I can't allow that."

"It's not up to you." If John wasn't his friend, Jim would have been frightened by the steely look he received.

TBC