First Solo Flight
Chapter Four
Disclaimer: They're still not mine. That makes me sad.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who's still reading. I hope you like where it's going!
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John looked at his youngest son, completely caught off guard. "Sam –"
"What did you lie to me about, Dad?"
"It's complicated –"
"Don't give me that. Where is Dean?"
"He's with Aidan."
"Is he? Or did Aidan lose him?"
"Sammy, no one is lost. Dean will be back –"
"Tell me what's going on!" Sam yelled. "What did you lie to me about? Where is my brother?"
John stood up and led Sam into the house. "Let's talk inside."
Sam leaned against the kitchen counter, his arms crossed over his chest. He glared at John angrily and the normally unflappable hunter was almost afraid. That's the affect his younger son had on him most of the time these days. Sam's questioning, Sam's unwillingness to follow orders – John didn't know how to deal with his independence and that scared him. He needed to protect his children, but Sam's attempt at autonomy was unfamiliar territory to John and they spent a lot of time fighting.
"What did you do, Dad? What did you lead Dean in to?"
"Nothing." John growled. "Dean knew exactly what he was getting in to."
"Tell me!"
"Sam, he's going to be okay. He'll be back in a couple of days –"
"I heard you tell Aidan you lied to me." Sam stared at his father. "What did you lie to me about?"
John sighed and rubbed his face. "Fine! You want to know? It's not just a simple job. It's not training! Aidan wanted to use Dean as bait and he went along with it!"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, John wished he could take them back. The look on his boy's face told him he'd gone too far and said too much. Sam was not prepared for the truth.
"Bait?" Sam repeated quietly, feeling like he'd been kicked in the stomach. "Bait for what?"
"Sam," John moved toward him, but Sam backed away.
"Bait for what?" he demanded again.
"Aidan ran across something in Milton. Young men between the ages of 18-20 have been disappearing in cycles for years. The information gets a little spotty before about a hundred years ago, but it's safe to assume it goes back centuries. Aidan's plan was to get him noticed by whatever was taking the people and –"
"Does Aidan even know what it is?" Sam asked.
"We have an idea. Christopher is on the way –"
"Christopher? You put my brother's life in his hands? You don't like him or trust him!"
"It's not that I don't trust him, Sammy. He's good at what he does –"
"Dad, this is Dean –"
"I know it is! I didn't want to let him do this, but he wanted to!"
"We don't do things you don't want us to, Dad. If you'd ordered Dean not to do it – " Sam's voice cracked. "Why didn't you order him not to do it?"
John saw the chink in Sam's armor and reached out for him. He put his arms around the struggling boy and pulled him close. Sam fought the embrace and yelled at John, but eventually gave in. He leaned against his father, holding on as if John was the only thing anchoring him to the planet.
"Why didn't you order him not to do it?" Sam whispered.
John caressed his hair. "It's going to be okay, Sammy, I promise."
"Why didn't you order him?" Sam asked again, as he and John sank to the floor.
"I – "John looked away, but held his boy tighter. "I knew your brother could handle this. I trust Aidan and – well, I think Christopher is a little bit of a flake, but he's never let us down."
"What's going to happen? What are they hunting?"
"It's a demon similar to a necros."
Sam pulled away from his father just far enough to look him in the eye. "Necros. The skeleton thing that's hovering between life and death?"
John nodded, knowing Sam had just read about that demon. "We think that like a necros, this demon takes the life force of young men to sustain itself for centuries. Aidan found a way to bind one of the demons – he knew after they took Dean that one of them would come to where he had been most recently as part of their ritual and that's when he'd bind it. Christopher is supposed to read the demon to find out where it's keeping the people. They're going to rescue all of them that are still alive, purify the place and exorcise the demons if necessary."
"But why didn't you go with Dean?" Sam asked, sounding so young.
"Because we wanted to keep you out of it; so you wouldn't worry too much." John squeezed Sam's shoulders. "But I think we all forgot just how smart you are."
"How did Aidan know where to go? Where to put Dean –"
"All the men in Milton disappeared around the bar. They figured if Dean hung out there and got himself noticed –" John shrugged.
"Aidan called to tell you Dean was taken?"
John nodded.
"Why did you say it was a mistake to depend on Christopher?" Sam asked after a moment.
John wanted to be angry with his son for eavesdropping, but he felt bad for lying to him and the expression on his face right now – it had never been so clear to John as it was now that Sam worshipped his brother. Sam would never be the same if something happened to Dean.
"He's running late. He should have been at the room when Aidan got back, but he's not there. Aidan is going to try to break the thing before Christopher gets there, but –"
"What if he can't?"
"Then Aidan will hold it in the room until Christopher gets there. Sam, these things keep the people alive so they can drain the life force over a long period of time. Dean isn't in imminent danger."
"You're sure?"
John nodded, afraid to say anything for fear his voice would betray him.
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Aidan had been back in the motel room for a while but nothing he tried cracked the demon. He was afraid to try anything stronger than the herbs he'd brought because accidentally destroying it would mean Dean's demise, not to mention that of the other men that also were being held.
You think you can break me with something so weak?
"Shut up."
You ask me why we take the young men, but you already know.
"I said, shut up."
You're frustrated. Something isn't happening the way it was supposed to.
"Don't try to get into my head."
Aidan heard the demon laugh. He left the room again a few minutes later and called Christopher's cell phone number.
"Hey, man. I'm almost there." Christopher said. "Another half hour."
"Hurry up, okay?"
"I'm trying. Is the binding getting weak?"
"Of course not." Aidan said, sounding offended. "But we don't know for sure what might be happening to Dean and I really don't want John on my ass for the rest of my life."
"Yeah, and you'd miss the little punk anyway. You have a soft spot for the Winchesters."
"Why are you such an ass?"
"I might miss the exit if you're not nice to me."
Aidan sighed. "Just get here."
He understood why John didn't completely trust Christopher. He was a very powerful psychic but he didn't always play for the right team. Jim found him a few years ago using his gift for less than honorable purposes while he lived on the streets. Jim took him in, hoping to tame him and make him one of the hunters but Christopher led his own life. He could normally be counted on, but only if something more interesting didn't come along.
Aidan kept checking on the demon he held in his room, but preferred to wait for Christopher outside. He resisted calling John, hoping the man had been able to get to sleep although he knew there was little chance of that.
He was relieved when he saw Christopher's flashy red Corvette pull into the parking lot. Christopher got out of the car, dressed in a suit that probably cost more than Aidan's entire wardrobe, and walked to where Aidan was standing.
"Aw, you're happy to see me. That's sweet." Christopher smiled, putting his arm around Aidan's shoulders.
"Knock it off. Get in there and do your job."
Christopher walked into the room, already reading the demon. Aidan followed, trying to keep his mind closed to the demon as well as the psychic.
The demon tried to resist and both men had to endure the demon's attempts at violence as the psychic probed for the information he wanted. As he dodged a flying chair, Aidan's feet got tangled in the bedspread that had been tossed to the floor earlier. He fell to the floor, hitting the side of his face on the bed post.
"You get it?" Aidan asked nearly half an hour later. He was holding an ice bag to his face.
"Yeah." Christopher said, trying not to let on how exhausted he felt. The demon was not particularly powerful, but enough to tax the psychic's abilities. "They're being held in an old barn on an abandoned farm about ten miles from here. Is that thing safe in there while we go get 'em?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
Christopher got into the passenger side of Aidan's truck. "The demons should be dormant now. They're only active for a couple of hours at night while they're feeding."
"You got that tonight?"
"Yeah. They feed for several days and that's lasts them for years."
"What? Several days? They don't keep their victims alive – you mean, they take the life force over a period of a few days?" Aidan asked, glancing away from the road.
"It's worse than that. They take the life force in a matter of hours."
"Son of a bitch!" Aidan exclaimed. "It's not like the necros."
"Not so much."
"Do you know if Dean is –"
"I don't know. We're still too far away for me to get a read on young Winchester." Christopher looked at him. "But you might want to speed up."
TBC
