Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, but by golly it would be a blast to just rent the men from supernatural for an evening or two wouldn't it! Just think of the stories I could write with that kind of incentive!

Hunted

John Winchester is hunted by more then just demons.

Chapter sixteen

John couldn't move. He didn't know if it was the shock of seeing the announcement of Dean's death or the relief when Caleb told him it wasn't his son that had died. Hell it was probably both. He raised his head to look at his friend. "Thank you," he said. He felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach by a horse.

"Come on John," Caleb said, "let's get you off the floor. I'm thinking the couch is gonna be a hell of a lot more comfortable."

John shook his head, "I'm going to just sit here for a few minutes." He didn't trust his legs to hold him up yet.

"Okay, I'll be right back," Caleb replied.

John laid his head back on the chair he'd been sitting in and closed his eyes for a minute. "Thank you Lord," he said out loud.

Caleb returned and pressed a cup into John's hand. "Drink this," he said.

John took the cup from his friend and drank the contents in one swallow. His throat burned as the liquid worked its way down. Whiskey. He glanced up at Caleb, "How much do you know?" he asked as the alcohol started seeping in to warmed him.

"Just what I told you, but I told Dean I'd call him right back." Caleb said. "I had to make sure you knew. I figured details could come later."

John nodded, "Go ahead and call him back. I'd like to know what the hell happened."

Caleb picked up the phone and called Dean back.

Dean should have called him and left a message just to let him know he was okay. Those boys have left messages on his phone before. Why in the hell would they forget to call him about something as important as this? John reached in his pocket for his phone to make sure it was turned on but it wasn't there. He stood slowly and tried to recall the last place he put it. He went to his room and searched his duffle bags but it wasn't there. Then he went to the truck and sure enough his phone was sitting on the seat where he'd left it three days ago when he arrived. He looked at the screen it said he had seven missed calls and five new voice messages.

He checked his messages and the first one was from Dean. He never should have doubted his sons. They weren't like him.

"Hey dad, I don't know if you're going to get this message or not, but I hope so. It's the only way I know to make sure you knew I was fine. It wasn't me in St. Louis, it was a shape shifter. It was beating the hell out of Sammy, so I had to shoot it when it looked like me. But don't worry, Sammy's fine too. What can I say he has the same hard head as the rest of us Winchesters'. You should have seen the thing Dad it was gross um… except when it looked like me of course then it was a handsome looking cuss. But dad it shed its skin to change its looks. Talk about puke inducing. Anyway, I'm fine, we both are. I just wanted you to know… and Dad, if you get this, call us and let us know you're okay. Please, we're worried about you too."

The remaining four messages were from Pastor Jim, Joshua, Missouri, and strange enough, Ellen. The first three were calling to tell him Dean was not dead, they had spoken with him. Ellen, however, had not seen the boys since they were small and wouldn't have known how to reach either of them. She was calling to provide some sympathy. It was so like her. They hadn't seen each other in a long time, but it was nice to know she still cared. Word gets around fast in the small community of hunters.

John went inside just as Caleb was getting off the phone with Dean. Caleb related the events of the week the boys had spent in St. Louis. "You know this is going to make things a bit difficult for Dean some times." Caleb said, "I mean, legally he's dead now."

"Well, we'll deal with that when we have to. Right now I'm just glad he's okay. That scared the hell out of me."

"Um… I noticed."

"Where are they now?"

"Ankeny, Iowa."

"How far away is it?"

"Three or Four hours."

"You coming?" John asked Caleb.

"Wait, you're going to go see them? I thought you said it wasn't safe for them to be with you?"

"Who said anything about them being with me? I just want to look, you know see for myself. I'm not going to let them see me."

"You know, that's just wrong." Caleb said, "Don't you think those boys are worried about you?"

"Yeah, I know they are. But they aren't smart enough to find me." John smirked.

"Only because you cheat," Caleb replied. "You get help from the rest of us."

"That's not cheating. That's just stacking the deck in my favor."

"John," Caleb said, "Most people call that cheating."

"I think we should take your truck. If we get to close in mine they might recognize it."

"Fine, but you drive. I need to take a few more pain pills before we go. I know how you drive."

"That's a low blow Caleb." John said with a smile. He could hardly believe that just over an hour ago his entire world had fallen apart. Now it seemed like the weight of the world had been taken from his shoulders.

It only took two hours and forty five minutes to reach Ankeny. It took longer to find Sam and Dean but eventually they found them in the library researching the thing they were hunting.

John sighed quietly as he watched them through one of the book shelves. He was surprisingly close. Close enough to be able to hear some of their conversation. It sounded like they were after the Hook Man. Leave it to those boys to find all the good ones. They couldn't find the easy, relatively safe jobs. No they had to go after the big ones and make sure they were in as much danger as possible. He was doing what he could to keep them safe and they were tossing themselves right in harms way.

John noticed that both boys were starting to get nervous, looking around the room as though searching for something. Sam in particular was having a hard time keeping his eyes on the task at hand. Several times his eyes roved in John's direction.

"Time to go," John said quietly to Caleb who'd been watching quietly from down the row of books. "They're getting suspicious."

"Of course they are," Caleb replied, "You're staring so hard you haven't even blinked since we got here."

Once they returned to Caleb's John announced that he would be leaving in the morning. It was entirely possible that his sons would come visit Caleb knowing how close his place was and wanting to see if he'd seen or heard from John. Besides it was obvious that Caleb was in much better shape then he had been. John had only intended to stay a day and had ended up staying nearly a week.

He had business down in Albuquerque New Mexico. There was a building down there with a black cloud hanging over it that seemed to be driving people insane.

A/N Please read and review. Thanks again to all my loyal readers. And in answer to all the questions about when John will actually contact his son's, well I am trying to follow the episodes of the show. In the show they didn't have any actual contact until the end of 'Asylum' when John calls them and tells them to quit looking for him. I'm getting there as quick as I can, but these boys and their dad don't like to be rushed. Thanks again!