Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Winchester men, nor do I own Supernatural. I just dabble in the arts with the men.
Hunted
John Winchester is hunted by more then just demons.
Chapter Eleven
John drove south with no destination in mind. He didn't care where he went as long as it was as far away from Wisconsin as possible. This trip hit too close to home. He thought he'd been prepared for it, but he was wrong. He needed to see his boys he wanted to tell them how much they meant to him. He wanted to hold them in his arms like he did when they were small. He wanted so much, he needed so much. But he couldn't have any of it and he knew it. He would not put his boys in danger of this demon getting its hands on them.
He drove until he was forced to stop for gas. It wasn't until he started to pump gas into the truck that he realized he hadn't taken care of his injuries from the poltergeist's attack. Actually he probably wouldn't even have noticed then if it hadn't been for the reaction of another customer. The poor girl nearly screamed when she saw the dried blood on his face. After reassuring the girl that he was fine he grabbed his bag and went to the men's' room to clean himself up before continuing the trip.
Looking in the mirror John could understand her reaction. He looked like death warmed over. There was dried blood caked in his hair, sideburns and on his face. He had a three inch gash on his forehead that was slightly swollen. He should have taken care of it hours ago, he'd likely end up with another scar. Not that he cared. He had quite a bit of bruising on the left side of his face too. After cleaning up, applying a bandage to his forehead and changing his shirt he paid for his gas and left.
John never even realized where he was going until he passed the sign that said Lawrence Kansas. A few minutes later he pulled into the driveway and saw Missouri standing on her front porch waiting for him. She knew. She always knew.
"Well, John Winchester come on in. Dinners on the table," she said with a smile as he got out of the truck.
He grinned at her his mood lightening immediately, "Missouri, one of these times I'm going to surprise you."
"How? You gonna eat before you get here?" she joked, "Come on now we don't want it to get cold."
John chuckled he'd really missed the old girl. Missouri had a way about her that made you feel like you'd come home. He grabbed both his bags, weapons and clothes out of the truck and followed her inside.
"Old girl," Missouri asked. "I know you know I heard that too John. You call me old again boy, even in your mind and I'm gonna whack you with a spoon. You here me?"
Smiling he set his bags down in the living room next to the television which was broadcasting the news. There was a report about an airplane, United Britannia flight 2485 that crashed the day before. It was only forty minutes into its flight before it when down somewhere in Pennsylvania. All but seven people on the plain died. The current speculation was that it was pilot error that caused the accident.
"That crash wasn't the pilot's fault." Missouri told John as he watched. "Something else caused that plane to go down."
John looked at her briefly then back to the television. He nodded at her, "I'll start looking into it after we eat then."
"No," she replied, "You don't need to. Check you phone John, then come on into the kitchen and let's eat."
John looked at her quizzically as she left, but pulled out his phone. He had one missed call and one voice message. Damn, some times that woman scared him.
"I heard that!" she yelled from the kitchen.
He called his voice mail and listed to his message.
"John this is Jerry Panowski. You helped me out a few years ago up here in Manning Pennsylvania. I think I may have another problem a bigger one. The kind only you can handle. I'm going to call your son but I wanted you to know. Thanks again."
"Well come on John the fried chicken's getting cold!" Missouri called.
John grinned and snapped his phone shut. Missouri made the best fried chicken he'd ever had. When he arrived in the kitchen she had a huge smile on her face and was setting the last of the food on the table. John pulled out her chair for her and waited until she sat before taking his own seat.
"That's what I like about you John, you're such a gentleman." Missouri told him.
"And here I thought it was my winning personality," he replied.
They dished food onto their plates and this time John remembered not to start eating until after Missouri said the blessing. The last time she had hit him with a spoon because he started eating before she had said the blessing. She held his hand while she prayed and added a prayer to look after him and his boys. John smiled at her. She knew this type of prayer wasn't his thing. It wasn't that he didn't believe in God, in fact, he knew there was a God. Demons were fallen angels, which imply that there were also good angels. If there are angels then there is a God. He just wasn't on speaking terms with him right now. He hadn't been since Mary died.
"You know John sometimes the strangest things run through your mind." Missouri said.
"Well stay the hell out of there and you won't here them." John replied with a smile just before he started to devour his first piece of chicken.
"I can't help it, you're a loud thinker," she said. "And by the way, of course you're on speaking terms with the man upstairs. You say a silent prayer every day for your boys. You just won't ask for anything for yourself."
John didn't reply but Missouri felt a shield suddenly come up around John's thoughts. She knew that some people could do that, but she had never known John to be able to do it before. It completely cut off her reading of him.
"Where did you learn to do that?"
"What?"
"You just put up a shield around your thoughts. It's like a brick wall between them and me. I'm impressed."
John grinned, "A lot of the things I fight have abilities I don't have. So I've been doing some reading on talents like yours. One of the books mentioned a way to keep from broadcasting my thoughts. I thought this would be a good place to practice."
She nodded at him with a smile. "Now, you want to tell me why you're running away from your boys?" she asked.
"To keep them safe," he replied.
"What's happening John? You normally won't let them out of your sight. How is leaving them protecting them?"
"I have a demon after me. Well, several demons. They are safer away from me right now."
"A demon?" Missouri asked eyes wide. "Is it…"
John nodded. "It's a bad one," he said.
"Is there any other kind?" she asked.
He laughed, "No, but this is worse then any I've ever come across. I can't take chances with anyone's lives. My being here with you is dangerous for you. I probably shouldn't have come. I don't even know why I did."
"Because you needed someone to talk to of course," Missouri told him. "Besides, you're leaving in the morning anyway. It's just one night."
John fingered the wedding band on his hand. "I miss her Missouri. It's been twenty two years and I still miss her," he said sadly.
"Of course you do. You two had a very special kind of love and that kind of love, it doesn't die. It lasts forever."
"It hurts." John said. He was silent for a few minutes then said, "Yesterday I talked to a man whose wife was killed by the same thing that took Mary. He was so… shattered. He blamed his child for the demons attack, for killing his wife. I don't understand how he could do that. He despises his own child. He beats the boy."
"What did you do to him John?" Missouri asked suspiciously. "You didn't hurt him did you?"
"No, not really. He attacked me so I knocked him out, but I wanted to do more than that. At least at first I did. Until I realized nothing I did to him would be worse then what the demon had already done. He was already dead inside."
"Not everyone is as strong as you are John." Missouri said.
John laughed an almost pain filled laugh. "Strong?" he replied, "I'm not strong Missouri. I'm week as a day old kitten. The only thing keeping me going is my need to protect my boys. I just pray I have the strength to do that and finish this."
Missouri chuckled the silly man didn't even realize what he just said belied his earlier comment about speaking to God. "You will do what you have to do John. You'll get rid of this thing. I know you will."
They finished the meal in silence then Missouri showed John to the guest room and allowed him to settle in for the night.
"Thank you, Missouri," he told her before going to bed. "I'm glad I came."
"Me too," she replied. "You have a good trip to California and make sure you lock the door on your way out in the morning. I am not getting up at the ungodly hour that you plan on leaving. And John, when you get to Palo Alto, you remember there wasn't anything you could do. It wasn't your fault."
John just looked at her with a sad smile on his face. It was his fault he knew it was. He should have gotten his son out of there faster. If he had Jessica might still be alive. "Good night Missouri."
"Good night John," she replied, "You come back and visit again soon."
A/N Please read and review and thank you to all my loyal readers. I really appreciate all the reviews.