Chapter 12

Claire stared at the text message for a long moment. She looked at her daughter and around at their motel room. Arizona. It was hot already and she didn't know where else to go. She gathered up their meager belongings and headed north. She found a place in Seattle and just hunkered down for a week. She even tossed her phone. She and Erica learned to sit up and roll over all inside Washington state. Then they cruised through Utah. Then Claire did what she'd avoided for months. She made sure Erica was down for a nap and took their weary bones to a library to do some research. Newspapers. Red flags. Then she saw the article from Lincoln. She felt the cold rush through her body and she couldn't move. She put her hand on Erica's sleeping belly and cried in the silence of the library. Then she got up and found a payphone. She dialed the number and listened as a novice explained that Jim had been gone for over two months and the funeral had passed.

When the news finally sunk in, she was in Missouri and she couldn't bring herself to call anymore people. She almost did a dozen times. She had all the numbers pulled up to call John but she'd look at her daughter and turn the phone off altogether. Then they got routines down. They were in Georgia when Erica took her first steps and Claire finally let someone else take care of her daughter so she could take care of a werewolf. She did a few exorcisms in Florida. Built a name for herself as Erica started to say a few words. After Erica's first birthday and the 12th exorcism, of which only eight were real, they moved on.

In Texas, Claire spent two months in a city before moving on but she got Erica on real food and potty trained while there. She found La Llorona were real, chupacabras were not, and that cowboys came in two flavors and neither were bad boy enough for her. She fell in with a group of bikers in New Mexico and they helped her get her driving fund up and fixed her car while she put several of their brethren to eternal rest.

Eventually, Claire just got used to the life as it was. She drove from city to city with her little girl and she helped where she could. Hustled late into the night while her girl slept in one stranger's home or another. Claire bought Caleb a proper stone after Erica's third birthday. The visit to Lincoln was emotional and Erica didn't understand why she cried so much.

She'd learned a lot from the bikers. She opened a large storage unit in Lincoln. She located what she could of Caleb's things. She took her time going through them, erecting shelves to create her own system. She found some pictures of him to show their daughter. Erica didn't understand yet but she toddled around all afternoon with a picture of her father in her fist.

The "office" as it was had been emptied by the cops, according to the landlord. Claire had to do some fancy footwork to get that stuff back and even then, she knew it wasn't all of it. On her third week in town, she found herself in the grocery store with a hot and fussy toddler and face to face with Adrian and his kids. They blinked at each other. Hands on carts and babies milling about. Adrian cleared his throat. "I went out to the house when I found out about Caleb. Looked like no one had been there for a long time."

"I… took her to meet her brother. Caleb was working." She shrugged.

"I… Dad bought the house. It was still in…"

"Alana's name. I didn't know that." Claire took a breath. "We don't need it."

"Dad's kept it locked up. Someone broke in."

"That was me."

Adrian tilted his head at her. "Do you need the house?"

"No. This isn't our home. I couldn't. Not after." Claire shook her head. "I just wanted to check around for some things. We were on our way out of town."

"He'd… give it to you."

"I'm sure." She nodded to him and his children. "They're big."

"Growing like weeds." He offered a half a smile.

Claire took a breath. "I bought him a stone."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. We… I just needed to do something."

"Mom…"

"It was fine but… I needed… to…"

"Okay."

"Um… well. I should get her to bed." Claire pushed her cart on.

"Take care."

"You too." She nodded but didn't look back. She found the children's motrin and opened the bottle right there in the store. Her fussy girl didn't like that much. They made their escape into the night and in the storage unit, Claire sat up all night with her hand on a bottle of Jack and her eyes on the pictures she'd found of him.

In the morning, she got them packed up and a credit card set up for the storage unit. A musty flannel from Caleb's closet around her shoulders, she said goodbye to Lincoln. She kept driving until she had to find a clinic to take her daughter to. But she made sure it was far away. North Dakota. They stayed a month while Erica got better and while Claire took care of a few hauntings.

She blinked. She swore it was just a night's sleep and she was in Mississippi lighting the candles on Erica's 4th birthday cake. Erica danced all over the picnic table. Claire joined her then picked her up to blow out the candle. They celebrated with a day of shopping. First was the thrift store to get some basics and things she could get dirty in. Then was the department store for a couple of outfits that required ironing. Claire took a roll of pictures. Then they moved to New Hampshire.

Darlene made a reemergence after a BOLO was sent out on Claire Reid. It didn't seem to bother Erica much that her mother had changed names. She kept her mother busy with Why and Why and Why and Why. She also memorized the five books they kept in the car and recited them by memory over and over and over, forcing Claire to find a few more.

In Indiana, they celebrated Erica's fifth birthday and Claire registered with the state a home school program. She kept the curriculum sent to a PO. She decided she'd check it when necessary. That's when the articles started building a problem she couldn't take care of by herself. She collected what she could and decided it was time to leave Indiana. She had Erica packed up, the articles ready and she stared at her phone for a long time as she sat in the parking lot. She stared at the name and then scrolled up. It was late but she was sure no one in their life ever went to bed early. It rang a few times. Then a voice picked up. "This better be good."

"You got something better to do?" Claire couldn't resist.

"Who the-. Talk. Now."

"Calm down, Pixie Bait. It's just Claire."

"Who told you about the Pixies?"

"It's Claire, Dean. Darlene."

"Fuck me. How are you?" The change in his voice was a good indicator.

"Good and I got some intel for you."

"On what?"

"On something I'm not touching."

"Oh, come on. Can it be that bad?"

"You got an army of friends. I'm not doing this alone. I'll meet you."

"Yeah. Yeah. Text an address."

"It's Indiana."

"Oooh. Give me some clues and we can be there by morning."

"Alright."

Claire stayed up all night and watched her baby sleep in the backseat. When the sun was rising she heard the familiar sound of an old car. She got out to wait and they were still a block away. She tried not to show her disappointment when there were only two occupants and one of them wasn't the man she'd expected. There were two men and they conversed before Dean got out, all bow legs and gravel-faced. He looked like he hadn't eaten or slept in weeks. "You look awful."

"Thanks." He made a face at her. "Good to know I'm still so high on your to-do list." He smiled and gave her a wink.

"You were never on my to-do list." She met him in the middle of the lot in a hug. "Good to see you, Dean."

"It's great to see you!" He looked like it had exhausted him to dredge up the excitement in that statement.

"You look so much more grown up." She gave his arms a squeeze. Solid guns there. "How long has it been?"

"A few years." He grinned at her. "That must have been '05."

"About then." She nodded that it had to have been. Erica was born in '06. Then her eyes caught on the other man getting out of the car. Even taller than Dean and John. Just a string bean about a mile high. "Oh my God, is that Sam?"

"Yep. That's the little geek." Dean laughed and turned to his brother. "Dude, this is Claire Reid."

"Hi." Sam tilted his head at his brother and shrugged.

"Dude, we never told you about Claire Reid?" Dean blinked at his brother.

"Well, you know your dad never did." She leaned forward and shook Sam's hand. "You are much taller than your picture suggested."

"You knew Dad?" Sam's face did a thing that made her heart twist and want to give him a hug. Claire looked to Dean whose eyes were on his shoes.

"Yeah." She smiled and took a breath. Her mouth clicked shut and then she had to keep talking. "Yeah. I knew John and this guy. Deviant." She slugged Dean on the shoulder. "Where is John? I figured he'd come with."

"Shit." Dean cursed and his shoulders slumped. "No one told you?" She shook her head at him. "He's dead."

"When?" She touched the pearls at her neck. She'd slipped them on… just in case.

"'06."

"Shit." Her voice broke and she had to breathe as her eyes filled with tears. She had to keep breathing while she blinked her eyes clear. "I thought he was indestructible."

"I did, too." Dean shook his head. "No one really told you?"

"Who?" She racked her brain of people who would have told her but there was just Dean and Bobby left. "Dean, I only know a handful of hunters and really… after Caleb… I fell off the world." She glanced back at her car. Erica was still asleep, good.

"It was a few days… after Caleb." Dean stared at her. "You and Caleb, then?"

"He wasn't really a dick, but you know. That's my type." She snorted. "One time I stopped by, he was too drunk to be a pig. Go figure." She handed over the research. "I'm sorry to hear about John."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry no one told you. I should have called." He blew out a breath, his eyes on the folder.

"Pardon me, but why?" Sam cut in. He looked so mad. "You knew our dad but why are you on the short list?"

"John and I were close. He got me started." She didn't know how to explain what John was to her, especially since Sam had apparently missed the whole thing. "Saved my life. Taught me about the dark things. Then I cut out and struck out on my own. Been doing it ever since."

"Saved you?"

Dean cleared his throat but his eyes were on his shoes. "Dad saved her from… Pixies."

"Pixies?" Sam laughed and looked between them. "Tinkerbells?"

"Not. Tinkerbells." Claire bit out. Green skin and black eyes flashing in her mind. "So much not Tinkerbells." She looked to Dean and she could tell his mind was in the same place. "So, he doesn't know the story, huh?"

"I'll tell him someday." Dean shrugged, his eyes still far away. "You been okay?"

"Caleb… that was hard. Jim… I don't call Bobby much. I uh… was always a little uncomfortable there. Not cause of Bobby… it was just… too soon after the Pixie." Claire shrugged. "He was a good guy."

"Is." Dean corrected.

"Thank God." She breathed. "So many we lost… all at the same time, huh?"

"It was the thing that… killed our Mom." Dean filled in. "But I got it. I got it."

"After John, then."

"Yeah." He nodded.

"And he never talked about me again, huh." She nodded to herself.

"You know how he was about you. I talked him to death about it and he would never say it out right but once… we were spying on Sam." Dean gestured to his brother. "We were spying on him and I got him to say something about you before he mandated we didn't talk about you anymore."

Claire tilted her head and the wet seeped out of her eyes. "Yeah? What did he say?"

"That every time you looked at him… the way you looked at him, he saw you on the ceiling… burning and screaming." He licked his lips and took a breath. "I don't know if you know what that means."

"That's how she died." Claire nodded and breathed. "I always knew but he would never say it." She sniffed back the stupid, stupid wasted tears on that man. When she wiped her nose, her hands moved with her next words. "He was a good man. An asshole but a good man."

Dean laughed. "You signed."

"Happens sometimes still." She smiled at him. "Your dad hated it. Said he had no fuckin' use for it."

"Wait, you… dated our dad?" Sam grinned suddenly.

"For a little while. He was a hard man to love."

The car door slamming got their attention. A little girl approached and hid behind Claire. Dean pointed and Claire reached back to touch her daughter's hair. "She yours? Claire nodded. "She's big. How old?"

"This is Erica." Claire tugged her out from behind her. "She is five. Erica, this is Sam and Dean Winchester. Old friends of Mommy's."

"Hi." Came the little girl's voice."

"Five?" Dean frowned and counted on his fingers. "Uh… Claire?"

"She's not John's." Claire shook her head. So many people had had that thought but she saw Caleb in her daughter every day. "Your dad made himself perfectly clear on that subject. She's Caleb's." She sniffed again. "He got to see her. We were…" Hiding all over the place. "in Kansas City paying respects to my folks and Sebastien when they killed him."

"Sorry. Caleb was my man." Dean tilted his head at the little girl. "At least she looks like you. I'm sorry but Caleb… as a girl?"

"She's got his eyes." Claire reached down and hefted Erica into her arms so they could see her pretty blue eyes. "My temperament and I kind of wish that came from him."

"She's pretty. Just like her mom." Dean leaned over and kissed Claire on the cheek. "We got this. You take her home."

"No… we don't have one." Claire shook her head. "I got used to running around. I think I only sat still through my pregnancy. John's bad habits rubbing off… but I told him… he didn't do such a bad job with his kids. Winchesters are good people." She set the girl down. She ran her hand over the blonde hair sticking up all over. "Back in the car, baby. We'll go in a minute." Erica ran back to the car. Claire looked at Dean for a long moment. "You ever check to see if they were still there?"

"I check all the time. No one else went missing the way we did." Dean gestured over his shoulder. "Sometimes, I still check for that thing on my back."

"I made John take a picture so I could see for myself." She shuddered at those memories of terror. "I still don't do woods."

"Yeah, I hate the friggin' woods." Dean nodded. "And fucking pixies."

"Fucking pixies." She agreed. "I gotta get the kid some pancakes. So… um… thanks for taking the case off my hands. I don't do those…"

"No problem." Dean glanced at the first article. "Did you catch it?"

"Yeah." She backed away. "I did. I found one, let me to it and I made peace." She lied. "A man kills your kid in a hit and run and you wanna kill him and then you find out it was a demon in the driver's seat the whole time… It if t hadn't happened. I wouldn't have been in the woods that day. So then you think… was it fate? Was it supposed to happen this way? I don't do demons anymore. Give me a salt and burn any day. Demons, witches and pixies… I just…"

"I hear you." Dean nodded.

"You boys take care. Maybe we'll see each other again."

"Be safe Claire." Dean called after her.

Claire climbed into the driver's seat and looked back at her baby, in her seat belt and ready to go. "You hungry?"

"Pancakes."

"Yep." Claire watched her in the rearview mirror as she steered them over to a diner. "Those were Daddy's friends, too."

"They knew my daddy?"

"Yeah. They liked him, too. Imagine that." She smiled to herself.

"Do they hunt monsters, too?"

"Yes. And they've been doing it a lot longer than Mommy. Someday, you will too. We'll be a good team, you and me."

"When do I learn?"

"When you're old enough. It's scary stuff, baby." She pulled in and climbed into the backseat to get Erica in some clothes before they climbed out to get at those pancakes. "Want to go tumbling when we hit Michigan?"

"Okay." Erica propped her chin on her hand as she waited for her pancakes.

After they had eaten, Claire drove them out of town. She stopped by a storage unit in Ohio to get some books to study while the laundry tumbled down the street. They sat in a drive in and waited for their shakes. "What do you think about Canada?"

"Where's that?"

"North. Far North."

"I don't know."

"You think we could stick it out in the cold?"

"I don't like the cold."

"It's either Canada or we start going places we've already been." She kissed her face.

"Mommy." Erica took her mother's face in her hands. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Claire breathed out. "Let's get on the road. We'll be in Michigan in no time and then we tumble."

"Tumble!" Erica raised her hands to the roof.

After the New Year, Claire was up late when the phone rang. It was Dean. He sounded drunk. "You okay?"

"No."

"What's wrong?"

"Um… Bobby's gone." Dean sniffed.

"Oh my god."

"He's gone." Dean cleared his throat. "Look… I, uh… shouldn't be doing this but I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure."

"There's a lot of heavy stuff going on. If you've seen the news… you know it's pretty much chaos out there."

"I've heard that it's old… real old." Claire checked on Erica, she was sleeping soundly. Claire took the phone outside.

"It's pre-Old Testament old. Sam and I are in deep. We're targets and it just… keeps getting deeper. There's a woman that I made Sam promise me not to speak of again."

Claire leaned on her car, she had never heard Dean sound like this. "Like father, like son."

"I know. I know. I did a bad thing… for a good reason. She won't remember me if you mention me or even show her a picture. Her and her kid… I was with them for… a year. I… being with me put them in danger and I had… I did what I had to do… but… I need to know that they're going to be okay no matter what happens to me."

"Where are they?"

"Last I saw them, Battle Creek, Michigan."

"That's not far at all. I'm in Tecumseh." Claire nodded. "Dean."

"They were the closest I ever had to having a family of my own. I've got a lot of stories you haven't heard. I've done bad things. Worse things. Sam, too. I just…"

"Okay. Okay. I'll swing through." Claire listened to him breathe. "She was the real deal, huh."

"Yeah. And her kid didn't hate me more than he hates his real dad so… I guess it was pretty real."

"Dean… get some rest."

"Don't know about that."

"You're a good person. We'll miss him."

"I'm… it's deep. I'm not too worried if you don't…"

"No, I got it, Dean. You'd just feel better if someone was looking out for them."

"Yeah."

TBC