CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN: A Man Of What Now?
The group stared at Sam expectantly, the one-sided conversation they were hearing confusing them.
"Allison? Who the hell are you and why do you have my brother's phone?" The youngest Winchester snapped, his worry for Dean overwhelming his senses.
The girl on the other end hesitated, playing with the scratchy hospital blanket as her eyes widened with realization. "Brother? Oh god, he really does have a family..." She muttered, more to herself than the stranger who called her. She heard Sam ask 'what?' with exasperation so she continued. "Nothing. Um, the caller ID said this was Sam?" Her statement was more of a question, as if she was unsure if she read it right.
The young demon switched the phone to speaker so everyone could hear. "Yeah, uh, who exactly are you?"
"Listen, I feel like we should talk in person." She admitted, scratching at her stitches on her chest with a pained expression. "The things that happened... need to be explained face to face..." She trailed off, swallowing loudly.
Jo gave Sam a concerned look, but urged him on. "Where are you?" The youngest Winchester questioned, although he was a little suspicious.
"Sioux Falls General Hospital." She stated, smiling at the man who walked into her private room and holding up one finger to tell him 'one second'.
The young demon felt his stomach drop at the mention of a hospital but agreed, saying that he'd be there in a couple hours.
"Unbelievable..." Mary breathed, shaking her head as her son hung up the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. "Dean had been right under our noses for who knows how long, and we had no idea..."
The group just stood in silence before Sam broke it. "I'm gonna go meet this Allison girl." He said with conviction, his brows shooting up when his father stepped forward.
"I'm coming with you." John stated, leaving no room to argue. "This could be a trap and there's no way in hell I'm letting you go alone."
"I'll come too!" Jo piped in, standing up from the couch, trying to seem completely normal. Although her chest ached and burned from where Ruby had cut her, Castiel had healed a majority of her other injuries so she felt ready to be back in the game, especially for Dean's sake.
Even with the obvious reluctance of Ellen and John, Sam eventually convinced them that this was a good idea, Jo knew Dean just about as well as any of them did and if anyone could put the pieces together, it'd be her.
...
Sam, John, and Jo flashed the Hospital's front desk clerk their FBI badges, quickly stuffing them back into their various pockets when the woman glanced at them with an irritated expression.
"Can I help you with something?" She said off-handedly, her eyes never leaving the computer screen she was typing furiously at.
John cleared his throat, demanding attention. With an over-exaggerated sigh, she turned to face him. "We're looking for a woman who was brought in yesterday by the name of Allison. Mind showing us her room?" He forced a smile, his question more of a demand as the cranky woman eyed him up and down before flicking her gaze between the demon and hunter behind him.
With a groan, she scooted over to the other end of her large desk, the wheels of her rolling chair making a screeching sound against the tiled floor. "Room 403." She said plainly before returning to her work, indicating she was done helping them.
Without saying thank you, the three stalked off, heading for the fourth floor to seek out the mystery woman.
Fortunately for the group, they only had to ask two other nurses where the room was and eventually found themselves waiting outside of it, no one willing to be the first to go in.
What if this was a trap? What if what was behind this door was too unbearable to see? What if... The questions rolled through Sam and John's minds, the two so wrapped up in their worry for Dean they almost didn't see Jo plow ahead of them and give a forceful knock before she entered.
The three tried not to show their shock on their faces, but by the way the woman lying in bed smiled knowingly, they could tell they weren't hiding it very well.
"Sam?" She asked hopefully, her attention directed at the lone demon standing in the room, his mouth moving but nothing coming out.
The woman was beautiful to say the least and Sam wasn't surprised that Dean had picked her. Her long brown hair was tangled and put into a sloppy side braid. The thin white gown she was wearing didn't help decrease how pale she looked. She had stitches extending from the top of her left shoulder that barely peaked out from the sheet she was wearing and disappeared in a diagonal across her torso. Her face was covered in purple and blue bruises and she had a split lip along with multiple cuts covering most of the bare skin they could see.
Finally remembering she had asked him a question, Sam nodded. "Yeah, uh- this is my dad and my friend Jo." He said a little awkwardly, not quite comfortable with referring to John as his father just yet.
"I'm Allison." She greeted, looking oddly calm despite her situation. "Uh, please sit." She offered, gesturing towards the ample seats that surrounded her bed. When they all eyed her, obviously waiting for an explanation, she took a deep breath. "So, I'm sure you're wondering how I ended up with Dean's phone and how I got in here." She started, guessing their questions perfectly. They all nodded so she continued. "I know something is wrong with your brother, and trust me I was so scared of him..." She paused, reliving the memories of her torture briefly before switching gears. "We had been at a bar; I thought we were hitting it off but then when he invited me back to his motel room... I told him I couldn't and when I went to go to my car..." She rubbed the back of her head absently where he had hit her with the hilt of the First Blade, the bump pulsing with pain. "Anyways, I woke up tied to a chair in some barn and..." She stopped, her eyes becoming distant.
Sam leaned forward in his chair and rested a cautious hand on her knee reassuringly. "It's okay. Just tell us how you got out." He said softly, giving her a sad smile.
Allison nodded, taking a calming breath. "I asked him what his name was, just trying anything to try and get through to him you know? I asked him about you guys, I figured he must have someone out there he cared about. I told him about my fiancé, told him to remember the people he loved and that they wouldn't want him doing this and he just... stopped." She said as if she still didn't believe it herself. "All of a sudden he walked over, untied me and handed me his phone saying to call 911. And then he..." She paused, still having trouble wrapping her head around it even with what she knew.
"What?" Jo asked quietly, not knowing how far she could press this woman for answers. But they had to know, anything could help them help Dean.
"He just disappeared! In thin air!" Allison blurted, trying to seem flustered by it all.
John narrowed his eyes, something about the way she was acting giving him a bad vibe. "You know." He stated, meeting her bewildered gaze.
"I don't know what you're-" She began only to be cut off.
"Cut the crap. You know what Dean is and so do we. Let's just get it all out in the open." John demanded, his tone impatient.
Allison looked taken aback before the fight went out of her. "I didn't know until about an hour ago." She relented with a sigh as she started picking at her nails distractedly. "Tim explained it all to me when I told him that Dean had black eyes and he disappeared. I told him I was going crazy and then... he told me everything."
The two hunters and one demon all looked at each other, all asking silently if they knew a hunter by the name of Tim. When it was apparent none of them knew, Jo turned towards Allison once more. "Tim's your fiancé?" She verified, Allison confirming it when she nodded. "Is he a hunter?" The blonde asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Hunter's are barbaric." A gruff voice from the doorway spat, causing the three to turn to face him.
A man of about twenty-five walked in, closing the door securely. He wore a grey t-shirt and jeans, his brown hair styled with a gel that made his hair shiny. He brought judgmental hazel eyes to John, looking for an explanation.
"Excuse me?" John barked, standing up so he could face the man who was a few inches shorter than he was.
The man scoffed, seeming unfazed by the intimidating eldest Winchester. "Hunter's are nothing but mindless cavemen."
"Tim, stop." Allison chastised, her tone hard. "These are nice people who don't deserve your stereotypes."
"How the hell do you know about the Supernatural if you're not a hunter?" John spat, causing Sam and Jo to stiffen in their chairs.
Tim looked smug as he answered, throwing the hunter off. "I'm a Man of Letters, you incompetent ass."
John couldn't help but laugh. Finally composing himself, he met Tim's furious gaze with amusement. "My old man was one. I thought they all died out in the fifties?"
Allison's fiancé seemed puzzled that this man could be remotely connected to such a prestigious organization. "I'm a legacy. But, why aren't you if your father was a part of the order?"
"My dad died when he was supposed to be getting initiated into the damn thing. Never really gave me the talk about it and then I had already started as a hunter. I found some journal of his but I didn't look into it." John explained, having little memories of his father.
"Can we get back to Dean please?" Sam piped up, raising his hand a little to try and get their attention. With quick nods, the men turned to Allison. "Now, do you have any idea where my brother went? Do you think he'd come find you?" Sam asked, noticing the way Tim stiffened at the thought of Dean coming in contact with his soon to be wife again.
She paused to think but before she could respond, Jo cut in. "I bet he will come find her. Dean's the sentimental type, either driven by the Mark or otherwise." She pointed out, earning nods from John and Sam.
"Talking behind people's backs is a little rude, don't you think?"
The room went dead silent as the new voice caused chills to run down their spines. Simultaneously, the group of five all turned towards the door where Dean Winchester was leaning against the frame, one hand shoved in his pocket of his jeans. He waved with his other, smirking slightly before his eyes landed on Allison. "Can I have my phone back please?"
Nobody knew what to do but Allison tossed it to him casually, not seeming at all worried that her torturer had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
He nodded his thanks as he shoved the small device into his pocket before his gaze found Tim. "You must be the fiancé. I've heard a lot about you." The middle Winchester quipped as he eyed him up and down with an almost hunger before finally focusing on his family. "I see you aren't as slow as I thought you were. Got a plan or did you think she'd lead you to me?"
Sam cleared his throat before standing up, the shock of Dean suddenly appearing starting to wear off. "Dean, just listen, okay? Please man, I know you're in there." He said desperately, taking a cautious step closer to his brother before John put a warning hand on his shoulder.
"Its okay, John. I don't plan on hurting Sammy. Or Tim for that matter unless he doesn't put away that knife…" Dean trailed off, glancing at the small blade that was clutched in the legacies palm, a cocky grin plastered on the demon's face. Tim swallowed nervously before dropping the knife to the floor and kicking it toward the Knight of Hell. "Good, now, Sam you wanted to say something?"
"This isn't you, man. Just-" The young demon stopped, wishing to hell Castiel was there before he continued with desperation in his tone. "Come with us okay? We will figure this out, we always do." He finished, begging his brother with his eyes to come back to them in one piece.
Jo stood, the small room seeming even tinier with the collection of people. "Dean, we can fix this." She tried, trying to relate to the humanity Allison had been able to tap into.
The middle Winchester paused, his eyes flicking between green and black as he locked gazes with Sam. "Sammy-" He started before he fell to the floor, landing on his knees. He let out a small cry, his body becoming rigid as a mysterious force began putting pressure on his muscles.
The young demon rushed forward, grabbing a hold of his brother's shoulders when Dean started gripping his head, some unknown power sedating him. The Knight of Hell let out an animal like growl, his eyes wide with pain and fear.
John turned around after feeling a gust of wind behind him, coming face to face with Castiel who looked determined. "We need to get out of here. Now. The angels are coming." He said with enough urgency to get John to focus.
"There's nowhere to take him! They all know about Bobby's!" Sam said with hopelessness from his position crouched next to his pained brother before Tim stepped forward.
"I know where we can go." He said with enough conviction to convince them to listen to him. They all stared at the Man of Letters with skepticism but the scream of agony that came from Dean was enough to put all caution to the wind.
"Just think of where you would like to go, I will teleport us there." The angel instructed, grabbing Tim's arm and placing a firm hand on the Knight of Hell's back. Once everyone was gathered around, they disappeared.
…...
TBC
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