Hey, Mr. Bartender mix me a drink
I really need something to tell me it's okay not to think,
Because I've been to all these bars
And I've seen all these places.
I've hit on all these girls
I've heard the same conversations.
Cab driver, cab driver
Take me away,
'Cause I already know
All the words that she'll say.
And I'll be creepin' out the window
At the first sign of day,
'Cause every single night it seems to go the same way.
I think I've been here before,
I think I've run into you,
I know the things that you do,
'Cause this is déjà vu.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
Cicero, Indiana
7 Years Ago
"You're a Winchester all right," Jefferson muttered to me as we watched Dean making out with a pretty dark haired girl carrying a yoga mat. She looked disturbingly like me, aside from the tights. "You're as stubborn as the rest of them."
I smiled, looking down at my hands. Well, he was right about that.
"He cares for you Beth," Jefferson said. "You should have seen him when you were missing." I looked sharply up at that comment.
Dean and I hadn't talked about the moments where I'd been captured by the homicidal spirit we'd been hunting, and what might have happened. We had nearly kissed when he rescued me, but we'd pushed each other away – John's rules ever present in our minds.
"Well he has a funny way of showing it," I said, nodding as Dean and the girl slipped inside an apartment building together.
"Take it from someone who knows – you can't have it both ways. If you harbour feelings for him, and expect him to wait for you, you'll only get hurt. You have to let him go... you can't sit on the fence, it's not fair." I nodded. "Tell him you love him, or let him go." Jefferson said quietly.
He was right. I had to let him go, didn't I? It was the only solution. I'd try harder, be a better daughter to John, a better sister to Dean and Sam. I'd try not to love him, even if it killed me. Not just for John, but for all of us. Tomorrow would be a better day.
Diner
Springfield, Illinois
Present Day
Sam was tapping away at the keyboard of his laptop, he looked up as I came over to him, putting three giant milkshakes down in front of us. I had my phone tucked under my ear and was listening to Jefferson on the other end of the line. Sam glanced up at me as I slid one of the milkshakes to him.
"Anything?" I asked him, and he shook his head.
"No... not you Jefferson," I said when he got confused on the other line. "Although... is there anything you can think of?" I said, and listened as he started flipping through books, chattering away.
"There's got to be something out there that's going to be able to help us get this deal broken," Sam muttered, and I thought about all the research we'd been doing lately, there just seemed to be nothing out there that was going to help us.
I jumped as Dean rapped on the window outside us waved. Smiling, I waved back and tried to look casual.
"We have to keep looking, what about that ritual I sent you?" I said as Dean entered the diner.
"OK well I gotta go... yeah now.. yeah, ok, call me back! Ok, bye... bye!" I hung up and Dean looked suspiciously at us both now sitting with the laptop closed, saying nothing.
"Who was that?" He asked me, nodding toward my phone laying discarded on the table.
"Huh? Oh, I was just ordering a pizza." I said, he stared at me with a raised eyebrow.
"You do realise that we're in a restaurant?" He asked, looking around us.
"Yeah, yeah, just... Sam felt like pizza, you know?" I said, and Sam looked wildly at me, shaking his head.
"Okay, Weirdy Mcweirderton," Dean said, taking a seat in the booth next to me. "So, I think I got something," he said, changing the subject.
"Yeah?" Sam asked.
"Cicero, Indiana," Dean said and my heart kind of fell. "Guy falls on his own power saw."
"And? What, that's it? One power saw?" Sam asked.
"Well... yeah." Dean said, taking a sip of his milkshake. "Look, Cicero's not far from Indianapolis, and that was one of the cities that a cloud of demons descended on. What if it's connected?"
"I don't know Dean," I said quietly, "I mean, it does seem a little far fetched."
"Yeah, you really think this is a case?" Sam asked, looking sceptically at his brother.
"Well, I don't know. Could be," Dean said with a shrug as he tried to hide the real reason he wanted to go, because there had to be one, it wasn't like Dean to jump at such vague things.
We both just looked at him, yeah we'd investigated some strange stuff before. But a power saw?
"All right, there's something better in Cicero than just a case," he said, and I raised my eyebrow.
"And that is?" I asked.
"Barley Island Brewing Company," he looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. "You remember?" I rolled my eyes and nodded.
"Yeah, vaguely." I commented with a wry grin. We'd eaten there one night when John had been laid up with a broken ankle, Dean had almost died over their ribs.
"Vaguely?!" He scoffed. "I seem to remember a fair amount of groaning going on over those ribs."
"Yeah, from you," I said with a laugh. He bumped into my shoulder and chuckled.
"Come on, it'll be fun. Best ribs for like two hundred miles, it's only three hours away!" His eyes were sparkling with excitement and I exchanged a look with Sam, which was pretty much for show. He knew he had us, there was no way we'd turn him down.
"Oh come on! It's my dying wish," he said to drill it home. I sighed.
"Yeah, well how many dying wishes are you gonna get?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
Dean considered, then kissed me on the lips. "As many as I can squeeze out. Come on. Smile, guys! God knows I'm gonna be smiling after dinner with those ribs."
I looked at Sam and shrugged. "Well, I could eat," I said and he chuckled.
"You're so weak," he said to me.
I looked at Dean who was giving me his interpretation of Sam's puppy dog eyes and I smiled.
"Yeah, but just look at him," I said patting Dean on the head, who smiled at me. "He's just so cute!" Dean chuckled and took another sip of his milkshake.
My phone started ringing again and I answered it.
"Hello?" I already knew who it was, but I had to play it cool.
"Jefferson! Long time no hear... I was just thinking about you... yeah, no... I wasn't thinking about you naked, what?" I listened to some more banter from the man and shook my head. "No I did not check you out in Philadelphia, Dude, you were dreaming." I rolled my eyes and Dean shook his head with a grin. "No I didn't check you out in Hollywood either!"
I got up and walked away from the table while the boys paid and headed out toward the Impala. I walked toward the restrooms, pretending I needed to go. Once I was out of hearing range of Dean, things turned serious.
"OK. So what do you think?" I asked.
"Yeah, Beth, I'm sorry darlin' but I don't think it'll work," Jefferson said.
"What do you mean it won't work? It's a demon-dispelling ritual!" I said urgently into the phone, hushing my tone a little as a couple of women walked past, looking at me curiously.
"It doesn't make any sense Beth, at any rate, it doesn't read like a ritual," he said to me.
"Well, maybe we got the translation wrong," I said, starting to walk outside. "Look, Jefferson, I can't just let Dean fry in Hell while..." I paused, swallowing back a lump in my throat. "Jefferson, there's got to be something, this is all my fault!" I looked over at Dean, standing next to Sam at the Impala.
"Look, Beth, where are you? Maybe I should come up for a few days." Jefferson said. "We can go over it in person."
"Yeah I don't know... Dean doesn't want me doing anything on this, he's not willing to take the risk that the original deal with be reverted to." I said to him.
"Just the same..." He said and I sighed. It would be good to see him again, he was one of the few people I knew who didn't walk on eggshells around me lately.
"We're headed for Cicero, you remember the place?" I said.
"Oh I remember..." he said with a chuckle. "Do me a favour? When you run into yoga girl, and you know you will... try not to kill her?" I laughed.
"We're so not going to be running into yoga girl," I said to him. "That was seven years ago!"
"Uh huh, I'll see you in a few days, all right?" Jefferson didn't wait for an answer before hanging up.
I wandered over toward the boys who were now deep in conversation. "She was a yoga teacher. It was the bendiest night of my life..." Dean was saying to Sam. I paused, listening in.
"Dude, don't let Beth hear you saying that, what are you nuts?!" Sam said, shaking his head.
"What? Oh come on, no one compares to Beth! But I'm telling you man, that girl was Gumby girl..." I raised my eyebrow, rolling my eyes. "Gumby girl," Dean said, thinking hard. He suddenly frowned and looked up at Sam. "Does that make me Pokey?"
"Yep," I said, interrupting them, and making it more than clear that I'd overheard them.
Dean looked a little chagrined and came around to wrap his arms around me. "Hey..." he said, looking at me with a twinkle in his eyes. "Wanna be my gumby girl?" He asked, and I laughed.
"I don't think I'm flexible enough to be gumby girl..." I said to him with narrowed eyes. He looked thoughtful and then his mouth twitched into a teasing grin.
"Oh I don't know, you're pretty good at Twister..." he said with a grin.
"You guys don't play Twister!" Sam said, cutting in.
"Not when you're around," Dean replied and Sam's eyes widened.
"Oh my god Dean! Seriously, are you guys trying to scar me for life?" He asked.
"Hey we didn't say we played it naked, get your mind out of the gutter!" I said to him, chuckling.
"Well, why haven't I seen you playing it then?" Sam asked.
"Because we're playing it naked, duh!" Dean said, rolling his eyes.
"God!" Sam exclaimed.
"We didn't say we weren't playing it naked either," I commented with a grin, smiling as Dean leaned down to kiss me. Sam threw his hands in the air and walked away.
"I'm seriously going to need therapy thanks to you two," he muttered.
Cicero, Indiana
4 hours later
Dean and I were walking along the street after dropping Sam at the motel, we were just looking for a little time out and space, we'd been doing it a lot lately, just going for walks, looking in shops, pretending to be antiquers, it helped normalise our life a little. Today I was on the hunt for some new boots.
"I don't understand what is wrong with your current boots," Dean said, looking at the old worn pair I had on, they were my calf-length boots, and currently they were all I was wearing along with a short green dress..
"They're like three years old Dean, and the sole is almost worn through. Besides, I want a new pair! I shouldn't think that's too much to ask," I said with a grin.
"I'm just saying, shoe shopping? You know I'm much more inclined to acquiesce to your request... if say, Victoria's Secret were involved," he said with a grin. I raised my eyebrow at him.
"Why Captain Barbossa, ye be twistin' me arm," I said in a pirate accent, sidling up to him and slipping my arms around his waist. "Want to go find out what Victoria's secret is then?" I asked, and he chuckled, his hands brushing along my sides, thumbs running over my breasts that were on display under the tight fitting green dress.
"I think I already found that secret," he said huskily, leaning in to kiss me as his hand came up, sliding into my hair and holding my head at an angle as he kissed me deeply. I moaned softly and leaned in to the soft massaging lips against mine.
"Excuse me, sorry," a harried voice said, as the door to the shoe store opened up behind us. Dean moved us out of the way, briefly breaking the kiss to pull me against the wall of the shop.
"Sorry," he muttered, and then claimed my lips again with a grin, one of his hands trailing up my bare thigh to slip under the dress in a fairly showy display of affection..
"Dean?" The woman said, stopping in her tracks to stare at us. Dean pulled away, a confused look on his face as we both turned to look at the person who somehow knew us.
"Huh?" He said, and then he swallowed, I felt his hands tighten on my hips, and he glanced down at me, then back at the woman. I recognised her immediately, Jefferson had been right, god damn small towns.
"Lisa, hey..." Dean said with a smile, looking at me nervously. He pulled back slightly, but kept one around my waist.
"Dean Winchester... wow... how long has it been?" Lisa asked.
"Uh, seven? Going on eight years now?" He said, looking at me questioningly. I raised my eyebrow at him, I wasn't supposed to know this, was I?
"Crazy huh?" Dean smiled at her and I pinched him lightly where I had my arm around his waist. He frowned slightly at me.
"Yeah," she said smiling. "So, what are you doing here?" Lisa asked, looking at us both.
"Oh, just passing through on a road trip, couldn't resist the chance to go visit the Brewery," Dean said. "You remember, great ribs..." he said with a dashing smile at Lisa. I looked at him sideways, since when did he go sharing ribs with her?
My phone started ringing again and I pulled away, taking the call, feeling a little conflicted.
"Yeah?" I said, glancing back at Dean and Lisa who were smiling at each other.
"So, about yoga girl," Jefferson jumped straight into the call with.
"What are you following me?" I asked, looking around. I half expected to see the blonde Englishman standing across the road with his cheeky grin.
"What? No! I haven't even left Miami, why?" Jefferson said, confused.
"Well you know, speak of the Devil and all that nonsense," I said to him, Dean was laughing at something Lisa had said and I frowned a little.
"What? She's there? You actually ran into her?!" Jefferson asked.
"Ran into her? She practically fell in our laps!" I muttered to him and I could hear him chortling on the other end of the phone.
"Jefferson, Jefferson! She's freaking gorgeous! Like, way more prettier than me," I said urgently. I shifted a little uncomfortably, looking at the stunning woman who was beaming at Dean. I sighed.
"You got a name for that green eyed dragon?" Jefferson asked and I felt myself glaring at him.
"I'm glaring at you down the phone, can you feel that?" I asked.
"Hahaha, yeah princess, I get it. Hey your eyes are much better brown darlin' so don't go clawing up poor gumby girl okay?"
"Gumby Girl? Hey, where did you hear that term?" I asked sharply, suddenly suspicious.
"Uhhh, nowhere, why?" Jefferson said evasively.
"Did Dean tell you about this girl after that night?" I asked, starting to put it together.
"Uhhh, I don't know what you're talking about Beth, listen, I gotta go. Don't get carried away all right? Remember, you're the one he's with now, I gotta go!"
"Wait, Jefferson, don't you... wait!" I said fiercely into the phone, but he was gone, hanging up on me. Damn that man!
I frowned down at my phone and then bit my lip. Dean was looking back at me, a curious expression on his face. I plastered a smile to my face and went back to join them.
"So uh, Lisa, this is Beth... Beth, Lisa." Dean said, and I smiled at the girl. Don't kill gumby girl I could hear Jefferson's voice echoing over and over in my head.
"We've just been invited to a party," Dean said, looking down at me and I cocked an eyebrow.
"A party?" I said, turning to look at Lisa. "Well, we love parties," I said with a smile.
Lisa's House
Cicero, Indiana
We pulled up to the address Lisa had given us and I looked out the window. Balloons were hanging from the mailbox, decorations from the front porch. I could see parents taking their kids around the back and I looked over at Dean.
"I'm not sure this is the kind of party you were thinking of," I said to him.
"What are you talking about? A party is a party!" He said, grinning and getting out of the car. I followed at a more leisurely pace, and he stopped to look back at me.
"Come on! What's going on with you?" He paused, assessing my slow strides and then grinned. "You're not jealous are you?" He asked.
"Who me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Now why would I be jealous Dean? I mean seriously, you saw this girl like once, and she has a nickname, which I might add Jefferson knows too, so no, nothing to be jealous of here, not at all." I stopped, frowning. What the Hell Beth? I thought, I shook my head trying to clear it.
"Wow, ok," Dean said, hesitating. He walked back over to me and slipped his hands around my waist, leaning down to rest his forehead against mine. "We don't have to go you know," he said.
"Why are we going Dean?" I asked, tired. I looked up at him and all I saw was amused adoration, it helped to quell the green-eyed dragon a little bit.
"Well, actually because that guy with the power saw was killed near here, I figured... party, good place to check things out. It's just until the Brewery opens up," he said with a grin. I chuckled, that was Dean, always thinking with his stomach – well, mostly.
"Okay," I said softly.
"You know you're the only one for me, right?" He asked, his eyes open and honest, looking at me with all the feeling he held in his heart. I chewed on my lip and swallowed for a moment, fighting back the terror that was constantly trying to take hold of me. How was I going to ever, ever, say good bye to him? We had to find a way to get him out of this deal.
"I know," I said softly, nodding. "I love you," I added, and he smiled and kissed me.
"Ditto," he said with a cheeky grin, taking my hand and pulling me toward the house. "Come on, maybe there's pie!"
Lisa let us into the house with another big smile, and led us out to the backyard where all manner of entertainment was happening. Kids were running around everywhere, I was suddenly hit with another loss as I thought about the birthday parties we wouldn't be having in a year's time.
"So, uh, who's the party for?" Dean asked Lisa.
"Ben, my son." She replied and Dean looked surprised.
"Oh. You have a..."
"Yep." She cut in with a nod. She gestured toward a young boy in the middle of the yard wearing a black jacket and jeans. He was in the middle of opening presents.
"That's him," she said proudly with a smile, glancing at Dean.
Ben ripped off the paper of the present he was holding and it was a CD. He looked elated, holding it in the air. "Yes! AC/DC rules!" He shouted. I frowned. Odd taste for a kid his age.
Dean looked pleased with the kid's taste in music, nodding away.
"How old?" He asked.
"Seven," Lisa answered shortly, then she waved at someone who had entered the backyard. I wandered off to pick at a table of snacks.
"Oh, Dean, could you excuse me a minute?" Lisa said.
"Yeah, sure. Don't mind me," Dean said, looking a little thoughtful before shrugging and heading off to check out the cake table.
"Did you hear Lisa call him 'Dean'?" A woman near me said to the lady sitting next her.
"Yeah. Why?" The other woman asked, curious. I loitered, wanting to hear this myself.
"You don't know about Dean? The Dean. Best-night-of-my-life Dean," she said, I smirked and looked over at the very man they were talking about, taking in an appreciative look at his ass in his worn jeans.
"No. Tell me," the other woman said as they both eyed off Dean.
"Oh, my god, so they had this crazy, semi-illegal..." she cut off talking as Dean turned around, spotting me standing next to them, staring and trying not to chuckle. He smiled and walked over to me holding a couple of plates of cake. Taking a fork, he cut some off and held it out for me as he reached me. I could feel the stares of the women beside me burning a hole they were so acutely aware of us.
"Try this," Dean said, forking some cake into my mouth. It melted in my mouth with a burst of sugary goodness and I smiled, nodding appreciatively. "Yeah? Good?" Dean asked, looking pleased with himself.
He noticed that the women were staring at us and he looked a little uncomfortable.
"Hi," he said, half smiling.
"Hi," said one woman flirtatiously. The other looked at Dean like was dinner.
"Hello..." she said, taking a bite out of a celery stick.
Dean shifted a little uncomfortably, and then looked at me, shrugging. He grabbed my hand and started to pull me away toward another section of the yard.
"Oh... lucky girl," the original woman muttered as she thought we moved out of earshot.
We approached Ben, who was leaning against a wall that separated the back yard from the outdoor entertaining area. Ben looked me over as we approached, and I paused under the birthday boy's attention.
"What's up?" He said to us, nodding in our direction.
"What's up with you?" Dean asked, leaning casually against the fence with him.
A woman and her daughter walked past and I shook my head as they both turned their heads to watch the pair, shoving a spoonful of cake in their mouths as they did so. They were like Dean and his little mini-me. I froze for a moment, just staring at them. My head started spinning with the math: Ben turning seven, and then my own countdown, the one not related to Dean going to Hell popped into my head, unbidden.
I would have been giving birth in a few weeks time if we hadn't lost the baby. Suddenly the whole party seemed to close around me and I shook my head, mouth dry and uncomfortable.
"So, it's your birthday," Dean said to him.
"Guilty," Ben replied, nodding.
"It's a cool party," Dean said as I started to walk past them. Ben watched me go with a curious look.
"Dude, it's so freakin' sweet. And this moon bounce – it's epic!" Ben said, I raised a curious look to Dean who looked a little shocked at the comment.
"Yeah. It's … pretty awesome," he said, while they both turned their gazes toward the moon bounce in the backyard.
"I'll be back," I said softly to Dean as I passed him, and then I ran down the steps toward the house, not waiting for a reply.
I passed a few other mothers and went in search of the bathroom, feeling a bit sick to my stomach, unhappy and miserable, just wanting to go home. As I passed through the kitchen toward the bathroom I heard Lisa talking to a friend.
"It's just... I'm worried about Katie. I think there might be something... wrong with her." The woman was saying.
"Of course there is. The poor girl just lost her dad. She's devastated," Lisa replied.
"No. That's – that's not what I'm talking about. There is something really... wrong with her. I'm not sure that Katie is...Katie." She said, looking at Lisa with a slightly panicked expression. I frowned, stepping into the hallway and staying within earshot.
"What?" Lisa asked, confused.
"I'm not sure that's my daughter," the other woman said, looking out the glass sliding doors to where a young girl was staying placidly among the other guests.
Lisa looked at the woman and frowned. "I know you're grieving, but you can't talk like that. Katie needs you."
"But you don't understand..." the other woman said.
"Seriously. We're gonna get you help. It'll be okay," Lisa said determinedly, and I sighed as the woman started to look distressed as being dismissed so easily. She took a step back, looking angry and went to get her daughter.
"Katie, come on, we're leaving!" The woman said.
Dean's POV
Beth ran off down the stairs toward the house and I watched her go, feeling like I'd just completely missed something and it was important. I frowned, then turned back to the kid who was still talking.
"You know who else thinks they're awesome?" Ben asked me. I shook my head at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Chicks!" Ben said, nodding with a pleased expression. "It's like hot-chick city out there."
Ben followed another little girl into the moon bounce, and I watched them, there was just something not right about this kid.
"Look out ladies... here comes trouble! Yee haw!" Ben said as he crawled on to the moon bounce with the other kids.
I took in the whole persona of the little guy, the music tastes, the sweet taste in clothing, and his obvious good taste in the opposite sex, and things started to chime inside my head. Seven years old … seven years old. The math hit home and I felt myself go a little pale, glancing over at the kid again. Nah, it couldn't be. Could it?
I turned, almost tripping over a bin in my haste to get back inside, looking for Lisa.
She was inside in the kitchen looking out at her guests.
"Hey," I said to her, leaning against the breakfast bar. "So, I, uh... met Ben. Cool kid."
"Yeah," Lisa said with a nod, we both turned to look at Ben who was chatting up some young girl in the backyard.
"Yeah," I said, feeling uncomfortable, not sure how you really broached this subject with anyone. "You know, I couldn't help but notice that, uh, he's turning seven." She nodded at me, I gave her a pointed look. "You and me... you know."
Lisa smiled and chuckled, looking a me, turning to fiddle with some glasses in the sink.
"You're... not trying to ask me if he's yours?" She asked.
"No." I said, "No, of course not," I said awkwardly, smiling. She laughed and bent down to get something out of the cupboard under the sink. "He's not, is he?"
Lisa slammed the cupboard closed, standing up quickly. "What?" I raised my eyebrow at her, she knew what I was saying. "No." She said with a shrug.
"Right," I said, looking back out at the people in the yard.
Beth came up to me at that point looking a little pale and upset. I slipped my arm around her waist, pulling her into me and kissing her forehead.
"You ok?" I asked her and she shook her head.
"No, not really, I'd like to go," she said quietly so only I could hear. I looked at her, something had definitely upset her. She turned to watch as a woman and her daughter crossed through the kitchen on their way out.
"Come on Katie," the woman said, pulling her daughter behind her and throwing Lisa an agitated look.
"Something wrong with your friend?" Beth asked Lisa, looking at her pointedly.
Lisa watched the woman leave, nodding. "She's been through a lot. Her ex just died in this horrible accident."
"Oh yeah," I said, nodding. "Didn't I just read about that? The, uh, the power saw."
"Yeah," Lisa said, nodding. "Guess there's been a lot of bad luck in the neighbourhood lately."
"What kind of bad luck?" Beth asked, her arm tightening around my waist.
Motel Diner
Sam's POV
Dean and Beth were off on their regular little shopping trips, or whatever it was they did these days as a way of coping with the things that were coming our way. I didn't mind because it meant I had more time to do research on Dean's demon deal.
I was jotting down notes from my laptop when someone sat down opposite me in the booth. I glanced up and froze. It was the girl who had helped save me from those demons in Nebraska. I stared at her.
"Hello, Sam," she said with a quirky smile. She had long blonde hair that cascaded down over her shoulders, and pale green eyes.
"You've been following me since Lincoln," I said to her, she reached over and closed my laptop, staring at me.
"Not much gets by you, huh?" She asked, taking one of my fries and munching on it. "Mmm, these are amazing. It's like deep-fried crack. Try some."
I huffed, shaking my head. "That knife you had. You can kill demons with that thing?" I asked her.
"Sure comes in handy when I have to swoop in and save the damsel in distress," she said with a smirk.
"Where did you get it?" I asked.
"Skymall," she answered, grabbing a plate and squeezing some ketchup on to it.
"Why are you following me?" I asked more sternly, leaning my arms against the table.
"I'm interested in you," the girl said with a smile. She had completely covered the small saucer with ketchup, and was stealing more of my fries to dip into it, essentially eating my now-forgotten lunch.
"Why?" I asked, curious.
"Because you're tall. I love a tall man." She said with a grin, chewing on a fry. She looked down at the sauce, a sly look coming across her face. "And then there's the whole Anti-Christ thing."
"Excuse me?" I asked, surprised.
"You know, generation of psychic kids, Yellow-Eyed Demon rounds you up, celebrity death match ensues. You're the sole survivor." She said, taking my drink and sipping on the straw.
"How do you know about that?" I asked, suspicious.
"I'm a good hunter." She said, the smile dropping from her face. She put the drink down on the table, sitting back in the booth, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, Yellow Eyes had some pretty big plans for you, Sam."
"'Had' being the key word," I pointed out. Who was this woman and what exactly was she getting at? Where had she come from? How did she know all this about me?
"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Ding-dong the demon's dead. Good job with that. It doesn't change the fact that you're special... in that Anthony Michael Hall E.S.P visions kind of way..."
"No." I said firmly. "That stuff's not happening anymore. Not since Yellow-Eyes died."
"Well, I'm thinking you're still a pretty big deal. I mean, after all that business with your mom." She said. I paused, looking at her.
"What about my mom?" I asked, keeping my face expressionless.
"You know, what happened to her friends." She paused and then smirked. "You... don't know." She said with an amused expression. "You've got a little catching up to do, my friend. SO, why don't you look into your mom's pals..." She grabbed my hand and wrote a cell phone number on it. "...and then give me a call, and we'll talk again? You might like to start with Grace O'Malley, hmmm?" I stared at her, what did Beth's mother have to do with this?
The girl got up to leave, turning back to me. "And, by the way, you do know where's a job in this town, right?" My phone started to ring, I glanced down at it, and when I looked up again, she was gone.
I frowned, answering the phone. "Hello?"
"Dude, there is a job here," Dean said to me over the phone.
"Really?" I asked, not surprised given what I'd just been told, but still a little shocked nonetheless.
"Yeah. You know that one freak accident we read about in the paper? Turns out there's four more than never even made the paper, all in this Morning Hill gated community. People falling off of ladders and drowning in their jacuzzis all over the neighbourhood." Dean said.
"That is weird," I commented, frowning at the thought.
"Yeah, something's up. Something these nice, big gates can't protect them from." Dean said, he paused and I could tell there was something else on his mind because normally he'd just hang up on me when he was done.
"Something else Dean?" I asked.
"Yeah, maybe, I mean, I don't know. Something upset Beth at this damn party we were just at, but she's not talking. Think you can find out what's going on?" He asked. I frowned, now that was weird. Since when did he enlist my help with Beth?
"Yeah, sure," I said to him, frowning again.
Suburban House
Next Morning
Beth's POV
Dean dropped us off at the end of the street in front of one of the victim's houses. Sam got out and I paused, looking at Dean.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" I asked, frowning at Dean.
"What? No! Of course not. You just, well you seem like you need a bit of a distraction, maybe hanging out with Sam will give you a change of pace," he said, looking at me worried. "Unless you want to tell me what's bothering you."
I shook my head, I wasn't really ready to talk about it yet. Not to him anyway. I didn't want to worry or burden him further. Dean reached over and pulled me closer to him, kissing my forehead and then looking me in the eyes. "I'm here when you want to talk." He said, and I smiled at him, nodding.
"I know," I said. I reached up to gently stroke his face and then got out to go join Sam, waving as he headed off to do some canvassing of the neighbourhood for other unusual activity. He was smiling happily, still on a rib-fest high from last night's Brewery visit.
Sam and I visited several homes of victims in the street, posing as insurance agents to get the more messier details. We were finally reaching the last house and coming out to look at where the accident had occurred.
"So, once again, we're very sorry to disturb you. We just really want to expedite that life-insurance policy," Sam said to the woman.
"Of course," she said with a nod. She led us around the back of the house to where a ladder was leaning against the wall.
"This is, um, where he fell," she said.
"I see. Now, how exactly did he ..." Sam trailed off, gesturing to the ladder.
"He was just inside changing a light bulb. Must have lost his balance," she replied, shrugging and looking up at the window.
"Were you here when this happened?" I asked, looking at the second-story window.
"No, I was out. Uh, the only one here was our daughter, Dakota." She answered.
She indicated a ground floor window where a young girl was staring at us in a creepy manner, no smile, no wave, nothing like a regular kid might offer when smiled at. I shuddered, something seemed off about the kid. I noticed there was a dark red smudge on the window sill and the railing next to it. Was that blood?
Exchanging a glance with Sam, he nodded slightly to the red stain, he'd seen it too.
"Okay," I said, turning to the woman with a smile. "I think that's all we need."
"Okay," she said with a nod.
"We'll get out of your way now," Sam said, turning to leave.
"Thank you," she said wearily, leading us back toward the door we had exited.
As we walked up the stairs, she put a hand to the back of her neck, rubbing it. Sam tensed and glanced back at me, his gaze going to the bruise that was standing out deep and purple. It was a strange looking mark, round, surrounded by small dots. I frowned, where had I seen that before?
We walked back toward where we were meeting Dean at the end of the street, Sam deep in thought. He glanced at me a few times and then he opened his mouth as if to ask me a question, closing it again when no words came.
"Spit it out Sammy," I said with a grin, noticing the tense posture he was holding. He sighed and took my arm, leading me across the road into a park where he sat us on a park bench.
"That bad?" I asked, gesturing that we needed to be sitting down for whatever he was about to say.
"You seem... tense," Sam said to me, frowning. "What's going on?"
"Sam..." I said, tired, rubbing a hand across my face.
"No, look, come on Beth you have to talk to someone. You won't talk to Dean, so come on, hit me with it." Sam said, turning his puppy dog eyes toward me.
I sighed. "He told you that?" Sam nodded in reply. I sighed again, looking out across the park.
"This was supposed to be a routine food run," I said with a wry grin. "Fun, you know?" He nodded at me.
I blew out another breath, leaning back against the bench, feeling everything coming to the surface like a saucepan about to boil over.
"Instead I'm in the middle of some weird case. Plus there's Lisa who is, I don't know, picture perfect mom back there throwing this awesome party for her son, and I saw the way Dean looked at her." I paused, staring at my hands. "She claims that kid isn't his, but I don't know Sam, the timing is right, and this kid... he's like a mini-Dean, you should see him."
Sam looked sympathetically at me.
"You would have had a son of your own in three weeks," he said softly and I stared at him.
"You remembered?" I asked. He nodded solemnly.
"We both have Beth, we just haven't wanted to bring it up, in case..." he trailed off, but the implication was there. They'd been trying not to upset me. I sighed and felt tears coming into my eyes, for the first time in months it was about my baby.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel Sam, everything has changed in the blink of an eye. I'm going to lose him Sam, and part of me is so grateful we're not going to have a baby that I have to raise on my own, but part of me is still so completely devastated over it!" I buried my face in my hands and felt his arm come around my shoulders, pulling me in against him.
"I know, I know. It's my fault Beth. You know, I'm the reason there's no baby, and maybe if you'd had that baby you wouldn't have been so rash and made that deal, and neither would Dean ... I'm sorry Beth." I looked up at him urgently, there were tears in his big worried eyes. I shook my head at him.
"No, no, no, no, no Sam. Don't do that. I don't want you to take that on," I said looking up at him.
"Would you take it all back though? If you could? Would you leave me dead?" He asked.
"Never," I said resolutely. "But we have to figure out how to get Dean out of this deal." I said, tears starting to fall again. "It might be the one thing that breaks me Sam."
He pulled me into his arms and I felt the sobs come, burying my face in his chest.
"It's ok Beth, I'm going to find a way, I promise. We'll find a way." He said soothingly to me, rubbing a hand up and down my back. I didn't believe him, we hadn't found anything yet, and we had no leads. "I'm not going to let my brother go to Hell to save me, I'm not."
Park
Dean's POV
I'd left Beth with Sam and driven off to check out the area, I hoped Sam was able to get through to her because there was certainly something going on with that girl, I just didn't know what exactly.
The house I'd just left hadn't had any more information to go on than the last three I'd been to. But I'd managed to get a couple of phone numbers to add to the tally for this month. I wondered vaguely if we were still doing our little competition of who could land the most phone numbers in a month and then chuckled. Well I still was, I didn't know what Beth was doing. So far I was in the lead for the last two months!
When I reached the Impala I noticed Ben sitting on a park bench looking sad. I decided to have a chat with the kid.
"Hey, Ben," I said, looking down at the little guy.
"Hey." Ben answered, nodding at me. "You were at my party."
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm Dean." I said, taking a seat next to him. "Everything okay? Something wrong?" He was watching a group of boys playing with a Gameboy or something like that. I noticed he was holding an empty case, and glanced over at the boys. "Is that your game they're playing with?" I asked.
"Yeah, Ryan Humphrey borrowed it, and now he wont give it back," Ben said with a sigh.
"Well, you want me to go..." I gestured as if I could go and take it back.
"No! Don't go over there! Only bitches send a grown-up," he said urgently, grabbing my arm. I looked at him proudly, nodding.
"You're not wrong," I said to him, smiling.
"And I'm not a bitch," he said. I chuckled. I leaned over to him, raising my eyebrow at the kids playing with the game.
"Is that Humphrey? The one that needs to lay off the burgers?" I asked. Ben nodded, smiling slightly at my comment.
I couldn't believe I was about to give this kid some tactics on dealing with bullies, I was no dad or anything even close to it, but the kid didn't have a dad around obviously – someone had to teach the kid how to get on in the world.
Five minutes later Ben was walking across the park to the group of boys. They outnumbered him, and were clearly bigger. But they weren't going to be expecting this. Ben cleared his throat and glanced back at me. I gave him a thumbs up and smiled.
"Ryan. I'd like my game back please," Ben said to the chubby kid.
Ryan looked up at him and snarled. "Fine. Take it back!" The other boys laughed and Ben looked at each of them in turn, hesitating. Ben turned to leave, but the chubby kid just couldn't help himself.
"See? Told you guys he was a …." his sentence never got finished because Ben whirled around and kicked the kid hard in the groin. I grimaced, oh that had to hurt. I knew from experience. Ben took the game back, returning to me on the bench, grinning happily. I was chuckling away, that was awesome!
"Thanks. Dude, that was awesome!" Ben said excitedly. I whistled and shook my head, I couldn't keep the grin from my face. I held my hand up for a high five.
"Up high!" I said as he hit my hand.
Lisa came running up to us suddenly, flashing an angry look at me.
"Benjamin Isaac Braeden! What's gotten into you?" She asked, coming to stand in front of us.
"He stole my game!" Ben said, Lisa looked unimpressed.
"So you kick him? Since when is..." she turned to look at me and I tried to hide the grin on my face. "Did you tell my son to beat up that kid?" She asked sharply.
"What? Well somebody had to teach him how to kick the bully in the nads," I said to her, looking over to see Sam and Beth approaching along the path.
"Who asked you to teach him anything?" Lisa said angrily.
"Just relax," I said, trying to get her to calm down. She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me away from the bench.
"What are you even still doing here? We had like one night together a million years ago. You don't know me. You have no business with my son!" She snapped. I was seriously starting to doubt that, but I couldn't prove it so I simply sighed, looking up at her.
"Lisa." I said, as she grabbed Ben and turned to leave. Beth frowned as she and Sam reached us, watching the exchange with curiosity. Lisa looked her over and then glared back at me.
"Just leave us alone," she said, pulling Ben with her as she walked away. Ben darted away from his mother and ran up to me, wrapping his arms around me in an impulsive hug.
"Ben!" Lisa said sharply to him.
"Thanks," Ben said with a smile, looking up me. My heart melted a little at the little guy looking up at me and I smiled at him, patting him on the head. He was a good kid. I liked him. Ben ran back to Lisa and they turned to leave, Beth came up and slipped her arm around me giving me a loving smile.
"Upsetting the locals again?" She asked with a grin.
"Yeah, you know me, fun times all round," I said with a smile, kissing her softly on the lips.
"Dude, did you just teach some kid to kick someone in the groin?" Sam asked, frowning at me. Obviously Lisa wasn't the only one who saw the incident go down.
I shrugged and threw them a wry smile. "Well someone had to, kid was getting bullied!" I answered. Beth chuckled and shook her head, Sam rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air.
"Dude!" He said in a chastising manner.
"What?" I asked, looking at him. "Hey, he'll take that lesson with him for the rest of his life, ain't nobody going to mess with that kid from now on."
Sam shook his head. "Violence isn't the solution to everything, Dean."
"Well it usually works for me," I said with a grin. "You know, when the other thing doesn't..." I smiled, looking down at Beth who laughed. It was good to hear her laugh.
"What other thing?" Sam asked stupidly, he'd walked right into that one.
"You know, getting down and dirty, naked with the ladies, having a little fun," I said with a grin. "Of course, I can't use that technique on anyone but Beth now, so violence is kind of my only go-to option." She laughed again and kissed me on the neck, pulling me close. She seemed a little better, whatever Sammy had said to her, seemed to have worked.
I looked up and noticed there were three kids watching us, all standing together, staring at us in a very creepy fashion. It sent a shiver down my spine, kids could be so strange.
"What is it?" Beth asked.
"Nothing, I don't know yet, but something's not right with this neighbourhood," I said thoughtfully.
Beth was looking at the kids, who started to turn and walk away.
"Something's wrong with the kids in this town," she commented, and I nodded.
"Yeah, tell me about it." I said.
Motel Room
Later that night
Beth's POV
Sam was at the laptop looking at a few articles while Dean and I were dishing up the Chinese take-out. Dean grimaced at the Mongolian beef I'd gotten him and I smirked.
"You don't want beef?" I asked, and he looked at me.
"We should have just gone back to the Brewery..." he said wistfully. He had a hungry look in his eye like he would take a chunk out of an uncooked cow if it meant he got to have that melt-in-your-mouth succulent taste again.
"We can't eat there every night!" I said with a laugh, Dean just shook his head, I knew when he got a taste for something he could completely binge on it. Sometimes that was a good thing, like when I wanted cuddle time and he was all hands-on touchy-feely binging. However, sometimes it was a bad thing, like the time he had the craving for the deep fried onion appetiser at Outback Steakhouse. I grimaced just thinking about it.
"I could," he said, looking like he was fantasising about those ribs again.
Sam cleared his throat. "So what do you know about changelings?" He asked.
I looked up sharply at the comment, is that where I'd seen that mark before? I couldn't quite remember.
"Evil monster babies?" Dean asked, looking over his shoulder at Sam.
"No, not necessarily babies," I said, looking at him.
"The kids!" Dean said with a flourish of his chopsticks. "Creepy, 'stare at you like you're lunch' kids...?" he muttered under his breath.
"Yeah," Sam said with a nod. "There's one at every victim's house."
Shortly later our food was forgotten and Dean was sitting at the counter putting together a kerosene torch. I grimaced, I hated when we had to burn creatures, the stench alone was enough to give you nightmares.
"So, changelings can perfectly mimic children," Sam said from where he was seated on the bed. "According to lore, they climb in the window, snatch the kid."
I nodded, looking at him. "There were marks on the windowsill at one of the kids houses. It looked like blood."
"The changeling grabs a kid, assumes its form, joins the happy fam just for kicks?" Dean asked with a frown.
"Not quite," I said, recalling something I'd read in John's journal. "Changelings feed on the mom's synovial fluid. Sam you remember, the moms they all have these odd bruises on the back of their necks." I pointed to my own neck and Sam nodded.
"Changelings can drain them for a few weeks before mom finally croaks," Sam said.
"And then there's dad and the babysitter," Dean said.
"Yeah. Seems like anyone who gets between the changeling and its food source ends up dead." I said, a little disturbed by the thought.
Dean held up his torch, looking pleased with himself. "And fire's the only way to waste them?" Sam nodded at him. "Great. We'll just bust in, drag the kids out, torch them on the front lawn. That will play great with the neighbours." I grimaced at the image.
"What about the real ones? What happens to them?" I asked, curious.
"They stash them underground somewhere. I don't know why, but if it's true, the real kids might be out there," Sam replied.
"We better start looking," Dean said, standing up. "So, any kid in the neighbourhood is vulnerable?"
"Yep," Sam answered.
Dean and I exchanged a look, and I knew what he was thinking.
"We gotta go check on Ben," Dean said to me, I nodded, in complete agreement.
"Well Dean, if the real kids are still alive, we don't have time." Sam said, frowning.
"No, we have to Sam," I said, looking at Dean's face. He was panicked all of a sudden.
Lisa's House
Dean's POV
Ten minutes later we were standing out the front of Lisa's house. I felt slightly weird about it, she hadn't exactly been pleased with us the last time we'd seen her. Just the same, I rang the doorbell and shifted from foot to foot while waiting for her to answer.
Lisa came to the door, looking a little confused to see me there. "Dean?"
"Hey!" I said with a smile. "I was thinking... Ben's birthday. I didn't bring him a present."
"That's okay," she said, frowning at me.
"No. No, no, I feel terrible, so, uh..." I pulled my credit card out of my wallet and handed it to her. "Here. Take a long weekend – just the two of you – on me."
"What?" Lisa asked, taking the card and looking at it confused.
"Yeah, I hear Six Flags is great this time of year. Go now. Avoid the traffic," I said, smiling at her.
Lisa read the name on the card and I mentally grimaced. "'Siegfried Houdini'? Whose card is this?" She asked.
"Mine," I said to her. "Nevermind. It'll work. I promise." I said.
She looked at me uncomfortably and handed the card back. "You should leave."
"Lisa..." I was interrupted by Ben coming down the stairs.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" He asked, looking at her sleepily.
"Nothing, Ben. It's cool." I said to him with a smile.
Ben stared at me a little too long for comfort, and I felt a sick feeling come into my stomach.
"Make him go away, mommy," Ben said to Lisa. She looked at him then turned a raised eyebrow to me.
"You heard him. Get out," Lisa said.
"Lisa... I don't think that's a good idea," I said, reaching for the door.
"Get out!" Lisa said again, slamming the door in my face. I walked around and peered through the window at them. Lisa returned to the couch where she was reading a book, Ben was sitting at a table with his own book, staring at Lisa as she read. I got out my flash-light and took a look around at the bedroom windows, there was a red smear mark on one of the sills. I swallowed, it could only mean one thing.
Beth was getting out of the car to come look for me when I jogged back toward the Impala.
"Hey," I said, kissing her quickly and then getting into the driver's seat, she returned to the back.
"They took Ben, he's changed," I said, looking over my shoulder at Beth.
"What? Are you sure?" She asked, looking at me worried.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I checked his windowsill." I said.
"Blood?" Sam asked.
"I don't think it is blood, and I think I know where the kids are," I commented, looking over at him. At least we had a lead.
House Under Construction
Same Neighbourhood
Beth's POV
Dean pulled the Impala up in front of the semi-constructed house, a large mound of red dirt sat outside the house. We got out and inspected it.
"Red dirt..." Sam commented, running a handful of it through his fingers.
"That's what was on the window," Dean said with a nod. "You take the front," he said to Sam, tossing him a bag from the back seat. "We'll go around."
Dean and I crept around to the back of the house, it was still in the framing process, no doors and only a couple of windows, so getting in was as simple as pushing through the heavy plastic covering the entry. Dean took the lead with his flash-light and I followed.
We passed the stairs leading down to the basement and heard a noise. Dean looked at me and I raised an eyebrow, nodding. He handed me the bag on his shoulder, and started to walk down the stairs, taking them slowly. I pulled out my flash-light from the bag and shone it around, splitting up from Dean as we reached the bottom.
It was eerily quiet, with the occasional bump or creak, and it reminded me of the moment in any horror show where the nice girl is about to get ganked by whatever homicidal lunatic is running around.
"Beth!" I heard Dean call out to me, and I moved toward the sound of his voice. Rounding the corner I saw a row of cages holding the missing children captive. Dean was standing in front of Ben's cage, reaching for the boy through the wire mesh.
"Ben... Ben... it's okay. I'm gonna get you out of here," Dean promised, looking up at me. He took a step back and used his flash-light to smash down on the lock, breaking it open. The door swung out and Ben crawled out. I smashed open another cage, letting several of the missing girls out. Ben took them in hand, reassuring them.
"It's okay. You're gonna get out of here, all right?" Ben said and I smiled at the brave kid, I caught Dean looking at him, a proud expression on his face.
One more cage and we had everyone free, herding them toward a window. Dean paused, assessing it then looked back at us all.
"Come on girls, come on. Everybody back, cover your eyes," I said, ushering them away from the window. Dean waited until the area was clear then used his light to break the glass.
There was another cage behind us and I looked around to see a woman locked in it just as Sam came running in.
"Dean! Beth! There's a mother," Sam said, looking behind him.
"A mother changeling?" Dean asked, surprised as he boosted the first kid up and out the window.
"Yeah. We got to get these kids out quick," Sam said.
"There's one more, give me a hand Sam," I said. I smashed at the lock on the cage behind me while Dean kept getting children out the window.
"I guess that's why the changelings are keeping the kids alive – so the mom can snack on them," Sam said as he held the cage door open. I recognised the woman from the birthday party, she'd been the one talking about Lisa's best-night-of-my-life Dean. Sam put his arm around her waist and helped her to the window.
One of the girls screamed and I looked up to see the mother changeling right behind us. I swung my flash-light at her, but she blocked me, grabbing my arm and swinging me with a strong force through an incomplete wall. I landed with a painful blow to my shoulder.
"Beth!" Sam shouted, brandishing the kerosene torch and attempting to light it. The mother kicked the lighter clean out of his hand, and punched him a couple of times with a strength that belied the frail body she was mimicking. With a few kicks to the stomach, she tossed him across the room into a wall like he was nothing more than a bag of marshmallows.
I struggled to my feet as Dean attacked the mother from behind, she turned on him, punching him several times in the stomach, smashing him in the face with her knee. He hit a wall with a resounding crunch.
"Beth! Get them out of here!" Dean yelled, and I ran for the kids. Ben was already helping them to climb out the window, reassuring them, just like Dean would.
I turned to see Dean pick up a brick and hit the mother across the face with it, she smashed into a wall behind her. She got back up, and wrestled with Dean, it looked like he was losing the fight and I hesitated, torn between helping and getting the kids out. Dean lashed out with a kick to the mother's stomach and she flew across the room. We only had one kid to go, and it was Ben, I boosted him up and smiled.
"Go, go! Get them away from here!" I said urgently before turning back toward the fight. Dean was bearing down on the mother, a look of anger on his face. He stopped when he saw Sam step up from beside him, torch in hand. He'd found the lighter and flipped it, sending a whoosh of flames toward the mother changeling who screamed and burned up in a roaring blaze.
Lisa's House
Beth's POV
The danger was gone. Ben was chattering away in the back seat with me as we drove him home. Lisa came running out the front door when she saw us pull up. Ben jumped out of the car, running into her arms.
"Ben?! Ben! Baby, are you okay?" Lisa asked urgently, looking him over.
"I'm okay, Mom." Ben reassured her, smiling and happy to be home.
"Oh, my god. What the hell just happened?" Lisa asked, looking up at the three of us standing nearby.
"I'll explain everything if you want me to, but, trust me, you probably don't. The important thing is that Ben's safe." Dean said stepping up and ruffling the kid's hair.
Lisa looked at Dean, tears in her eyes. "Thank you," she said before grabbing him in a hug. "Thank you."
Sam and I looked at each other and shrugged, turning to leave. "Maybe we'll just give you guys some... time." Sam suggested, raising his eyebrow.
Dean turned around and frowned at me. "Where are you going?" He asked me and I shrugged, feeling a little awkward.
"Come on," he said to both of us. Sam shook his head and walked back to the Impala, settling in the front seat with his iPod and a smile. I wasn't getting a choice, Dean grabbed my hand and nodded to Lisa, who led the way into the house.
Half an hour later Lisa and I were talking in the kitchen while Dean and Ben were in the living room discussing music.
"Changelings?" She asked me, looking over at Ben.
"You know, we never uh, mentioned what we do. This is kind of our job." I said to her.
"I so didn't want to know that," she said with a smirk. She looked over at Ben. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"Yeah, I think he'll be fine," I said to her, smiling. "He's a tough kid."
"Kind of like his dad," Lisa said softly, watching Dean and Ben together.
I looked at her, and frowned. "Umm, are you saying..."
"I had a type," Lisa said suddenly, looking at me. "Leather jacket, couple of scars, no mailing address? I was there." I smiled, nodding. "Guess I was a little wild back then, before I became a mom."
"And?" I asked.
"And that night was … well, it was the best night of my life," she said with a smile. "Sorry," she added at my uncomfortable look.
"That's ok," I said softly, shrugging, I could kind of relate – Dean had been five years of the best nights of my life. Dean was looking over at us, a curious expression on his face.
"You don't have to worry, I got the message, the next morning. Loud and clear." She said to me, looking a little sad.
"What message?" I asked, completely confused but this suddenly strange girly deep and meaningful.
"Ask Dean, he'll know what I mean," she said.
"Listen, Lisa..." I said, wishing I was a thousand miles away from this conversation right now. "About Ben..."
"He's Dean's," she said quickly, looking at me with slight terror. I swallowed, biting my lip.
"Yeah, I kind of wondered." I said. We both looked over at the boys then, and Dean started to look very uncomfortable at the attention.
"I don't know how to tell him, can you?" Lisa asked me. "I'm not trying to mess up your lives, I don't expect anything. But I think, since he's showed up after all this time. Maybe he at least deserves to know..." she said to me.
I nodded, silent. "Yeah, yeah I think he'd like to know," I said quietly after a moment's thought.
Dean had gotten up and was crossing the room to us. Lisa was starting to look a little like a startled rabbit, itching to run.
"You know, just for the record... you got a great kid." Dean said as he reached us, waving a hand back at Ben. "I would have been proud to be his dad," he said, pausing as we both looked at him.
"Yeah, about that..." I said, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. Dean stared down at me, reading a lot into my expression. After a moment he looked up at Lisa who was squirming beside us.
"Woah... really? He is mine?" He asked, glancing back at Ben.
"Yeah, he is." Lisa said, smiling tentatively. "Sorry, I was just, I didn't know what you wanted, or would expect. We have a good life here, I didn't want to mess it up."
"What changed your mind?" I asked her, watching Dean's facial expression as we talked. He was looking dumbfounded but pleased at the same time.
"You saved his life, it weren't for either of you, he'd be dead. I can't just walk away from that," Lisa said.
Dean was staring at Ben, and we all stood around looking a little awkward.
"Listen, um... I don't expect anything from you guys. But … you're welcome to come visit, any time you're in the area," she said, looking from Dean to me. "Both of you."
I nodded and Dean looked a little wistful. "Yeah, yeah, well we got a lot of work to do, but, some stuff happened to us recently, and uh, well... I think it would be good to get to know him a little, if you think he'd be up for it," Dean said.
"I think he'd like that," Lisa said.
I didn't know how I felt about the whole thing. My own son was dead, taken before his time, and here Dean had a fully grown kid running around, to gumby girl. I sighed and as if he was a mind reader, my phone started ringing.
"I'm in town, princess," Jefferson said.
"Dude, I swear you have me bugged, what have you joined the psychic network or something?" I asked, walking away from Dean and Lisa.
"What are you talking about?" He asked, chuckling away at my tone.
"I'm with gumby girl... oh and we need to talk, now!" I said urgently to him.
"We are talking, what's the problem?" He asked. I paused, looking over at the other two.
"Okay, maybe not right now, later, meet me at the chapel across from our motel in half an hour," I said, and he agreed, hanging up.
Chapel
Beth's POV
"So what's the problem?" Jefferson asked as I finished up my prayers to my angels. I looked over at him, standing to give him a big hug.
"I have to figure out a way to break this deal Jefferson, I have to! It's not enough time, it's just not ok?" I said to him, starting to pace.
"Beth, I told you, I have exhausted all my contacts, and nothing. If there is a way to break this deal, nobody is talking." Jefferson said, leaning casually against a pew, watching me with folded arms.
"Dean's a dad." I said to him, changing the subject and coming to a stop.
"What?" He asked.
"Gumby girl, that night... she got pregnant. He has a seven year old son." I said, tears coming to my eyes. "And I'm not sure how I'm supposed to react to that, am I really meant to be happy for him? Sad? Angry? I mean it's not as if he was mine then, not really."
Jefferson pulled me into a hug and sighed. "I don't know princess, I don't know. But I do know one thing," he said, pulling me back to and lowering concerned eyes to me.
"What?" I sniffed.
"You've got to start talking to Dean about this Beth, he's worried about you." I nodded, I knew he was right, I did, I just didn't know where to start.
"It's not fair Jefferson, it's just not. This life, the sacrifices we make almost every day for complete strangers. My own son was ripped from my arms because of this life, Dad is dead, Sam died, Dean's going to Hell, and all for what? So people like Lisa can sleep at night, and then don't even think that maybe, just maybe, Dean deserved to know he had a son out there in the world?" I stopped pacing and faced him.
"Would it have made a difference if he did?" Jefferson asked.
"Well, maybe. Maybe he would have gone and joined her – I mean I know, Dad would have killed him, but maybe he wouldn't have either. This is family we're talking about. Maybe he could have got out, had a real family, he'd be safe now." Jefferson raised an eyebrow, and looked over my shoulder, a curious look on his face. I closed my eyes and bit my lip, he could only be looking at one person.
Dean's familiar steps walked down the aisle toward me and I sighed, burying my face in my hand, rubbing my temples. God this had been an exhausting couple of days.
"I'm gonna leave you both to it then," Jefferson said with a pat to my shoulder. "I'll be with Sam."
I felt the heat of Dean's body standing in front of me and turned my eyes to look up at him. He was standing there with his every infuriating gotcha expression on his face.
"Secret rendezvous with Jefferson, a man could get worried at all these phone calls you've been taking lately, and now this," he said with a grin. I smiled back at him.
"You don't get jealous," I said, running my hands down his chest, resting them against him.
"I'm human, Beth, of course I get jealous," he said with a chuckle, leaning down to kiss me. "But I trust you." He peered into my eyes, watching me as I tried to formulate something, anything to say to him about what he might have just overheard.
"You going to start talking to me? Or should I?" He asked. I shrugged, still unable to form words, so he pulled me into a pew, sitting down with me on his lap.
"Okay... I guess I'll start then," he said with a patient smile. I smiled and nodded back.
"Right, well. For a start, I know you'd like to think I would have run off, abandoned you guys, and lived fairytale life on Sesame Street back there, but you know me better than that. A baby with Lisa wouldn't have been enough to keep me in one place and that's just the way it is." I chewed on my lip, watching him.
"But, she's gorgeous Dean." I pointed out. He snorted.
"And? You want to know why she probably never told me about Ben? Because she was so damn pissed at me by the time I left there in the morning she probably never wanted to see me again." His words reminded me of what Lisa had said, something about asking Dean.
"What happened?" I queried.
He shook his head with a smile. "You know this was after Philadelphia right?" He asked. I nodded.
"Yeah, I kind of, may have followed you that night," I said, biting my lip. He looked surprised and then shook his head.
"God you're a stubborn pain in the ass sometimes," he muttered. I gaped at him, he could talk!
"Why didn't you stop me?" He said, shaking his head. "Don't answer that, I know why. Dad. Freaking control freak. We wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for him."
"Dean, we wouldn't know each other if it weren't for him," I said.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, our Dad's grew up together after all." Dean said, and I nodded quietly.
"So what happened?" I asked again, getting back to my original question.
He sighed. "You may have noticed, she's kind of almost the spitting image of you?"
"Except I was blonde at the time," I said with a raised eyebrow. Dean's warm laughter filled the chapel.
"Sugarpie, you looked shocking with blonde hair, I'm not sweating the details here, you're always going to have brown hair to me," he said. He sobered, looking at me. "I should have waited for you, I should have just stuck it out, but every time you pushed me away I thought to myself, 'it's never going to happen, she'll never get past Dad's rules' and I just … well... she looked like you Beth, she laughed like you, I just needed that for a little while, you know?" I nodded, I knew all too well.
"And, unfortunately, I slipped up and during our morning... fun... I called her Beth." I gaped, a goofy grin coming to my face.
"Are you serious?" I asked with a chuckle.
"Deadly," he said, deadpan. I looked down at his chest, shaking my head, suddenly feeling like I'd won a competition.
"I wouldn't have gone to her even if I knew about Ben, you know that. So you need to get over the jealous thing," he said, I nodded quietly. He took a breath, pausing.
"Now... the baby..." he said gently.
I felt the tears coming unbidden to my eyes, and sniffed them back.
"Well... you won't bring it up, you won't talk about him, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do Beth." His eyes were worried for me, and I chewed on my lip, thinking.
"I don't know what I want either Dean, I just know it hurts," I said quietly.
"I know it does, baby," he said, pulling me against him and holding me. He kissed my forehead and sat like that, his lips pressed to my temples for a moment.
"So what's the deal with Jefferson? Why is he here? You two aren't trying to get me out of this deal I hope?" Dean said. I looked at him, he knew me too well.
"He's just here to check up on us, he's worried, thinks I'm having a nervous breakdown or something." I said, well it was partially true.
"And are you?" He asked.
"Well, not today," I said with a wry smile. "And I'm just taking it one day at a time right now." He nodded, pulling me tighter into his lap.
"I love you," he said softly and I turned happy eyes to look at him. "I know I don't say enough," he added.
I shook my head, smiling as I claimed his mouth with my lips, caressing them tenderly.
"You say it enough, you say it every day to me, just by being you." I said with a smile, leaning my head in to his shoulder, nuzzling up against his neck so I could breathe in his scent, and wrap it all around me. It was moments like this I was trying to commit to memory, because who knew how many more I had left.
With that thought the sobs started to wrench out of me, and I let them come. He didn't speak, he didn't judge, he just held me while I cried, the tears falling to drench his shirt.
When I couldn't cry any more, I dabbed at my eyes once more with the handkerchief I'd pulled from my jacket pocket to stem all the disgusting side-effects of bawling your brains out. Crying isn't like they portray in the movies. You don't start up, stop a moment later and have perfect hair and make-up, not a blemish to the face.
Crying for me meant a red, angry face, swollen eyes, snotty nose and hoarse voice. Crying was exhausting.
Dean shifted finally, moving his legs with me sitting firmly on them. I looked up at him, feeling incredibly self-conscious even though really, he'd seen me at my complete worst and still loved me, so I don't know what I was worried about.
"Come on waterworks," he said with a chuckle. "Let's get you back to the motel and cleaned up." I nodded and stood up, taking a few steps to allow him some room to move. He slipped his arm around my waist and walked with me down the aisle to the exit, holding me tightly against him.
Motel Room
Next Morning
Sam's POV
Jefferson's eyes had been a big help, we'd been doing research all night while Dean and Beth got their own room and were off hopefully dealing with some of their stuff. I was on the phone yet again.
"Hi. I needed to check some facts with your, uh, with your secretary about a fire that occurred on November 24, 2006 in Lawrence, Kansas. Hardecker was his name." I listened while someone responded to me, watching Jefferson on his own phone call. "Okay. Great. I was just tying to find out the date he died...July 13th, thanks."
"Can you check the records for a Robert Campbell?" Jefferson was saying into his phone. "July 19, 2001," he repeated. "Dead on arrival? What I'm after is – is cause of death... Heart condition?... Wasn't he a cardiac surgeon? Wouldn't he have known about that?" He said curiously.
I sighed and jotted down the name and date while someone answered my next call.
"Hi, yes, this is police chief Phil Jones, I'm looking for information on... on Mrs Wallace's death... Two deaths. Who was the other?" I looked up as Jefferson watched me. "Ed Campbell. Any survivors?" I asked. "No, that's all I needed. Thank you very much."
I leaned back in my seat, stretching as Dean and Beth walked into the room. "This is insane Jefferson, oh my god!" He was staring over my shoulder at a list that was at least twenty people long. Every single one of them was dead.
"What's going on?" Dean asked, looking at us.
"They're dead. All of them," I said to him, feeling dazed.
"Who?" Beth asked, looking confused.
"All of mom's friends. Her doctor, her uncle – everyone who ever knew her, systematically wiped off the map one at time." I looked at her, the horror of what I'd just said starting to sink in.
"Including your mom," I said to her. Beth took a step back.
"What?" She asked.
"I spoke to someone, a school counsellor or something, someone who knew them growing up. Beth, your mom was my mother's best friend in high school." Dean frowned at that declaration, the strange conversation starting to sink in.
"But... but we weren't even living in Kansas, we didn't know you guys!" Beth said, shaking her head.
"Doesn't seem to matter," Jefferson said. "Many of these people are relatives, uncles, cousins, all of them dead and they were living all over the country."
"Well why? What's the purpose? I mean, why kill off anyone who ever knew Mom?" Dean asked, frowning.
"I don't know," I said, "but I'm certain it has something to do with the Yellow-Eyed Demon."
"Yeah, why?" Dean asked, looking at me.
I hesitated, but then figured I had nothing to hide. "That girl, from the farm in Nebraska, she's a hunter, she ran into me when you were out yesterday and told me I had some catching up to do."
Beth frowned. "That's odd." I nodded, it was very odd, who was this girl?
"But my mother died in a car crash," Beth said. "It was an accident."
"Was it?" Jefferson asked, crossing his arms. "Or was it made to look like one?"
Her eyes widened at that suggestion and she sank on to the bed nearest her.
"Oh my god," she said softly, staring at her hands. I knew exactly what she was feeling.
"Well, looks like we have some research to do," Dean said in his practical, lets-get-to-work voice. "Only I have no idea what to make of that one. Or where to start."
I shrugged, agreed. I looked down at my hand, the number the girl had written catching my eye. But maybe I knew where to start. I looked up at the others, they were starting to discuss breakfast, looking at the display board advertising a breakfast buffet in the motel diner. No point in getting their hopes up, I'd just tell them when I new something.
An hour later they were all off at breakfast and I'd pretended I needed a shower first. Instead I was in our room staring at the mysterious blonde woman.
"Someone went through a hell of a lot of trouble trying to cover their tracks," I said to her.
"Yep. The Yellow-Eyed Demon," she said.
"So, what's your deal? You show up wherever I am. You know all about me. You know all about my mom."
She looked exasperated with me. "I already told you. I'm ..."
"Oh right, right. Yeah. Just a hunter. Just some hunter who happens to know more about my own family that I do." I scoffed, looking back at her. "Just tell me who you are."
She smiled, looking down at the floor. "Sam... it..."
"Just... tell me who you are," I pressed, stepping toward her.
She laughed. "It doesn't matter."
"Just tell me who you are!" I shouted at her, frustrated at the lack of answers I was getting.
The girl looked at me stonily, the smile dropping off her face. "Fine," she said.
She blinked her eyes once and they turned black, completely black, then she blinked again and they were back to normal. I stumbled back, reaching for my bag.
"Think twice before going for that holy water," she said to me, leaning casually against the table holding my computer.
I fumbled around in my bag, struggling to get it open and find the flask of water. "Give me one reason I should."
"I'm here to help you, Sam," she said to me.
"Is this some kind of joke?!" I asked, finally laying my hands on the flask and pulling it from my bag.
"God's honest truth... or whatever," she said to me, taking a few steps in my direction.
"You're a demon," I snarled at her.
"Don't be such a racist," she quipped. "I'm here because I want to help you. And I can if you trust me."
"Trust you?" I said, smirking at her, holding out the flask in front of me, between us. Was she insane?
"Sam, calm down," she said soothingly.
"Start talking. All those murders... what was the demon trying to cover up?" I asked feeling a little agitated. God damned demon, I should send her back to Hell right now! Something in her eyes stopped me though.
"I don't know," she said.
"What happened to my mother?" I pressed on, wondering why I was bothering. Demons didn't help anyone except themselves. I knew that.
"I honestly don't know. That's what I'm trying to find out. All I know is that it's about you." She said.
"What?" I asked, confused.
She smirked. "Don't you get it Sam? It's all about you. What happened to your mom, what happened to her friends. They're trying to cover up what he did to you. And I want to help you figure it out."
"Why would you want to help me?" I asked.
"I have my reasons. Not all demons are the same, Sam. Not all of us want the same thing. Me? I want to help you from time to time. That's all. And if you let me, there's something in it for you." She said with a smile.
I stared at her. "What could you possibly...?"
"I could help you save your brother," she said to me. My heart almost stopped. Was this is? Was this the lead we'd been looking for? So far we'd found nothing, and now I had an honest-to-god real demon in front of me offering to help. Too good to be true? Maybe. But if I could control the situation, if I kept things on my terms, maybe I could use this to my advantage. I had to try, right? This was Dean. I wasn't about to let him go to Hell if I could help it.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Song for this chapter is Déjà vu by 30H3.
Wow, I just realised the next episode is Bad Day at Black Rock ! I love this episode! I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the week because I'm away for a few days over the weekend. Might have to wait too, it's all going to depend on how well I can manage my time over the next three days as I work, deal with sick baby & annoying demanding ex-bf, and also have to get all my other stuff done for the weekend.
OK. People are doing my head in, so just going to post this - I had a few things I wanted to post but I'm getting harassed by SMS so will come back and edit AN later.
Hope you liked the chapter :)
Please leave a review, you know I love it!