-1Sam unpacked his things, since they were going to be there for a while. "So what kind of fish do you have out there in that lake anyway?" He asked. He didn't know what to do with down time. It was an alien concept to a Winchester. Time not spent on the hunt was spent looking for the next one and recovering from the last one.
"There are walleyes and bass." Father Pavel said as he fussed with his tackle box. "Rumor has it that a vacationer caught a fifty pound muskellunge, but I am not too sure about that one." He said with a chuckle. "Rumors have a way of becoming gigantic."
"Yeah." Sam said with a faint huffing laugh. "The source of many an urban legend. " He shook his head. "Killed way too many urban legends to discount anything."
"My whole religion is based on things man today has not seen." Father Pavel said with a laugh. "Faith in the intangible and unprovable. So maybe we shall catch a fifty pound musky."
"It's worth a shot." Sam grinned. " I mean if Dean and I could catch a vengeful spirit in a lake, you can catch just about anything out there."
"You don't have a water phobia, do you?" Father Pavel asked, remembering Sam explaining why Dean refused to fly if he could help it. Vengeful water spirit, didn't sound very gentle.
"Tight spaces." Sam said and explained about the closet situation with Maggie. "It's under control. Not like I go into hysterics or anything, but... yeah it's there."
"Well, that's not too bad." Father Pavel said. "There aren't many tight spaces here." The cottage was roomy, and surrounded by land, and the wide expanse of the lake. After detangling his lures he looked at Sam. "Would you like to see what bites tonight?"
"Sure. Pack up a few sandwiches and soda and head on over to the pier. Unless you wanna go out in a boat."
Father Pavel looked outside. The moon was out, but there was a fog coming in over the lake. "Perhaps the pier. The lake is large, would hate to come ashore on the wrong side after all." He said as he found a cooler to pack food in.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Sounds are going to carry like mad out there. Ever notice that about fog?" He asked as he pulled on a hooded sweat shirt figuring it was going to be chilly out there with the fog rolling in.
Father Pavel pulled on a cardigan sweater after he finished packing the provisions. "It makes it a tad bit creepier. Must be why horror movies are so fond of them. Very few weather patterns get one movie of their own, let alone two." He said.
"True although it was actually one movie made twice." He said with a laugh. "Dean and I used to debate which was better the remake or the original. I like the remake, he said the reincarnation thing made it lame."
"I've never seen either. But a friend of mine from the seminary is a big horror movie fan. Of course, he's my age, and remembers Vincent Price. In the theaters." Father Pavel said. "Shall we go?"
Sam grinned. "He used to scare me when I was little. But I always had to watch those movies when they were on late. Used to piss Dean off cause he had to deal with the nightmares. " He picked up the cooler. "Not that he said anything when I was scared... just the next time I wanted to watch a scary movie."
"Much better than the communist propoganda I was forced to listen to on the radio as a child." Father Pavel said with a chuckle as they headed out into the early night air. The fog was rolling in over the lake, seemingly as two layers as it reflected off the mirrored surface as they walked toward the pier. "But he was good with the nightmares?"
"The best. Still is." The nightmares had been pretty horrific when he had lost Jessica. When his world had turned upside down. "Never made me feel stupid for having them. He was more of a father to me when we were little than my father was. But that... I don't know.. sometimes I really resent Dad for that, others... I know it's not his fault."
Father Pavel just listened. He had turned into nearly a father confessor for the young man, he didn't mind. Everyone had things they needed to get off their chests. And it helped him understand his protege a little more with each tidbit he chose to share. "Your father did make mistakes, he was only human." Father Pavel said. "But it's not wrong to resent him, or be mad at him, for what his mistakes did."
"I know... it's just... the last time we were together we were fighting. I guess we were always fighting." Sam said as they walked. "I didn't know that he had made the deal with the demon to save Dean's life and I thought he hadn't done anything or tried anything... it ... I think he died thinking I hated him or something. "
"I'm sure he saw you with much clearer vision than you think he did." Father Pavel assured his young charge. "You did chase after him all over the country. You didn't shoot him. And when he woke up, you did rush to his bedside, correct?"
"Yeah." Sam said with a nod. "There just wasn't enough time. I never really thought he would ever be gone. He was...he hunted constantly for 23 years. Do you have any idea how rare it is for a hunter to survive that? I mean... we didn't have normal lives with hunting when there was time or need... it was more like the reverse. He lived to hunt. We thought nothing could take him down. Dad was... a force of nature. "
"One never thinks there is enough time." Father Pavel said, softly. "Force of nature? He sounds like he was quite a man."
"He was...even though most people wanted to shoot him on sight." Sam said with a laugh, then shrugged "He watched the love of his life die pinned to the ceiling and engulfed in flames. That would have broken most men." Sam was pretty sure in a lot of ways it had broken him. He hadn't felt quite whole or sane since that night. And he had grown up knowing it was real, that it was possible. He couldn't imagine the shock it must have been for his marine corporal father who lived a normal life, with the requisite blinders on.
"But he raised us, and kept us safe... as much as he could. " He didn't blame John for the times things slipped past him and got to him and his brother. He blamed John... for being John. Arrogant, stubborn, always right even when he was wrong. He blamed him for not telling him and preparing him for what was to come... what he was going to become. And he blamed him for not saying goodbye.
"He raised two fine young men." Father Pavel said. "Of course he did things wrong. The only infallible one is God himself. He should have told you about you, not left it to your brother to do so. But he gave you an inner core of strength to deal with it."
"I never expected him to be perfect." Sam said. "I just... never understood why he rode me so hard. Why he expected me to be better than everyone else. Until Dean told me the truth. It was because he knew... he knew there was a monster inside me waiting to get out. It's why he looked at me like he did. I never once doubted my dad loved me. Just that he believed in me. And I was right. "
"He believed in you." Father Pavel said. "He was a hunter. From what you say, what's the phrase, hard core? If he didn't believe in you, he wouldn't have raised you and instilled that sense of right and wrong, and justice."
Sam sighed. "I want to believe that." He said as they reached the dock. "Just like I want to believe that he didn't die believing I hated him, or that Dean is better off with me gone. Ya know... sometimes things just are how they are no matter how comforting it would be to believe otherwise."
"Your brother probably isn't better with you gone, but it's the way it has to be for now." Father Pavel said. "Every road has trials, ditches, speed bumps, construction zones. Sometimes you just have to slow down and watch your steering. Go from obstacle to obstacle, and don't look so closely at the horizon, or your tire might blow out. I heard that on Monster Garage while you were in the hospital."
Sam laughed at the image of the aging priest watching Monster Garage. "Okay, point taken. So what lure do we use to catch a 50 lb Musky?" He asked.
SNSNSN
Jack moaned softly, his head hurt and his stomach was less than happy. "Wow... didn't expect to sleep. How far out are we?" He asked.
"We'll be landing shortly." Teneke said. "I chartered this jet, so we do not have to deal with customs, or that messy passport business. Since I am going to assume that you didn't bring yours." He said, setting his newspaper aside.
"Don't have one. Never needed one when Ben and I traveled." He said running his hand over his face. Then swore. "I gotta call him when we get to ... where ever it is we are going. He's gonna worry and trust me no one wants a worried fire demon."
Teneke raised an eyebrow. He didn't fear Ben. Once inside the house, Ben was powerless. As it should be, the man was no man after all, he was a demon. "Certainly. Once we get to the family house, you may use the phone." Teneke said. "I'm surprised he let you come, though. Or your brother for that matter, neither seems to have fully realized that you're a grown man."
"They don't control me. They just worry about me. They don't know where I am, though. Didn't seem right to say I was taking off with Kaylie's kidnapper and the guy that sicced a federal agent on Dean. Still not happy about that. Just here to get things taken care of."
"Of course." Teneke said. "One never knows, you might like it here. It's Chinese and Western all at the same time. A miraculous metropolis of trade and culture all rolled into one."
"I might... but I am going to go home once this is dealt with. The woman I love, the rest of my family and my career are back in Texas. " He shook his head. "I didn't even bother to pack. God that is not ... like me." Jack usually planned thing out completely. Packed only what he needed but everything that he needed. He didn't leave things or people hanging. "I feel like I am going insane here."
Teneke was silent as they got into the hired car at the airport and headed to where he lived. Along with the remaining Hsiaos of the world. "Jack, you were panicky before. What did you do that made you seek out help so badly?" He asked kindly, hoping it was something he could blow out of proportion.
Jack's jaw twitched. "I hurt Kaylie." He said and explained all that had happened after leaving the restaurant..well...except for the credit card theft Dean pulled. The last thing he wanted was his brother back in jail.
Teneke shook his head. "I'm sorry about that." He said. "When it first manifests, it can manifest in dangerous ways. I would have warned you if you had stayed at dinner. I guess we should be grateful to your brother. Had he been five minutes later, you would have broken through that door...and ...well..." He left the rest unsaid.
"And what?" Jack demanded, dark eyes wide. He had a hard time accepting that he had done what he and already done. That he had been so out of control and enraged.
"And you could have seriously hurt her." Teneke said, reluctantly, finishing his sentence. "Perhaps even killed her, or made her wish she was dead."
Jack shook his head. "I would never have hurt her, not seriously hurt her. I didn't even mean to hurt her when I grabbed her arm. "
"But you did, from what you said. What do you think would have happened if you had managed to get that door down before your brother came?" Teneke prodded. He needed Jack to vocalize his worst fears. That was step one. Well, actually step two. Step one was getting him on the plane, which Teneke did.
"Oh god... I was so out of control... I don't know what I would have done. " He said, as his dark complexion paled.
"Then as much as it hurts, you need to be away from her." Teneke said sympathetically. "So she'll be safe."
"Only until this is under control. I am not abandoning her. I am not Sam, dammit. I don't abandon the people I care about because it's inconvenient."
"Inconvenient?" Teneke said as the car pulled up to his estate. It was modest, but for a crowded city like Hong Kong it was very nice indeed. "Well, this is my home." He said as the car slowed. "There is a phone in the hallway."
"Thanks." Jack said and hurried to the phone, fumbling with the operator trying to figure out country code for the US but finally was able to get the call placed, dialing through to his home. His real home.
Kaylie had woken up, with a hang over, and Ben had to hide the grimace on his face as he watched her slump over her coffee and run a hand through tangled blonde hair. He kept forgetting that humans were actually rather fragile creatures. But he distracted himself when the phone rang. "Hello?" He said and frowned a bit as he heard a crackle of static before being connected. This had better NOT be Jack. He recognized the crackle, happened on intercontinental calls.
"Ben?" Jack said, sensing the frustration in his foster father's tone. "It's me, Jack." Oh yeah, like that was necessary. "Just wanted to let you know I'm alright."
"Jack, where the hell are you?" Ben demanded as Kaylie's head lifted to listen. "I know you're not in the country. You're over fucking seas. Did you go where I think you went? Where are you? I'm coming to get you right now." He said firmly. He rarely laid down the law with Jack. He rarely had to. But this was one of those times when Jack just wasn't thinking straight.
Dean walked in and caught the end of the conversation. "That Jack?" He said and Ben gave him a short nod. "Hey, baby brother, how's you're face?" He called out.
"Yeah... I'm where you think I am, but I gotta stay here and sort this out. It's... apparently when they jump started the mystical bull shit it... fubar-ed a few things. Like self control and anger management. If Dean hadn't stopped me... I would have really hurt Kaylie. He says he can help me sort it out. I'll be back home as soon as possible. I promise. God, I miss you guys already and I was out cold through the whole flight." He chuckled. "Tell Dean my face hurts, but not as much as looking at his."
"Jack, I'm not asking you." Ben said. "Where are you? Exactly. I think I can help figure out some mystical bullshit, don't you? I'm one big mystical creature when you look at it from a certain way!" He didn't trust the Hsiaos.
"I don't know the address." He said, sounding tired, drained. "But it's in one of the nicer areas of Hong Kong. Ben... this anger thing... it's... I've never been out of control before... what if I come back and I really hurt her... just tell her I love her and I'm so sorry. I will be home soon. If they can't do anything for me in a couple days... I'll give you a call again."
"Jack!" Ben growled into the phone. "Don't you hang up the phone! Now you listen to me. I've never called you a brat, but right now, I'm pretty close. Along with some other words I could use." But most of them he wouldn't use, Kaylie was in the room. Ben spent his formative years a whole other time, whole other culture. Some things you just didn't say in front of ladies. "This is ridiculous. You are not staying there. Have I mentioned I hid your existence from them for a fucking reason?"
"Yeah...I know... didn't say I trusted them. Still don't have the address. I will call as soon as I have more information to give you, okay? Just... let me try and get this... whatever it is under control. I'm not a kid anymore Ben."
"Yes you are." Ben countered. Hell, compared to him, everyone was a kid.
"Ben, give me the phone." Dean said.
"Whatever. Go screw one of my strippers."
"Give me the phone." Dean said again, and a tussle over the phone could be heard, along with a yelp from Ben. "Ice, works every time, dude." Dean said with a chuckle. "Jack, are you all right? Don't lie to me, are you all right?"
"No." Jack said honestly. "I am losing my fucking mind. I can't control my temper, and they say the rages are coming on because of the magic being woken up or something. Will you get Ben calmed down please? I'm just gonna give Teneke a few days to help me sort it out then I will be home. I'm not ditching anyone or running away just trying to get this fixed at the source. How is Kaylie doing?" He asked, and the guilt and pain in his voice revealed how he felt about what he had done.
"Calm him down? Dude, I just dumped ice on him. He's about to roast me." Dean said with a chuckle. "She's...ah...well, Ben, smart guy there, over medicated her. She just woke up with a massive hangover. So far all she's done is moan and drink coffee." He knew Kaylie enough to know that when she wanted to, she could retreat inside a shell that was nearly as thick as the walls Dean surrounded himself with.
"Tell her I'm sorry will ya?" He asked. "I gotta go. I'll see you when I get home." He hung up the phone knowing that there would be no end with out giving in if he kept talking and he couldnt give in .He had to get this fixed.
"You let him hang up?" Ben flared at Dean.
"Oh yeah, because I could l really stop him!" Dean shot back. They bickered back and forth about what to do for a bit.
"Where is he?" Kaylie asked softly, so much so that Dean and Ben had to stop arguing entirely to hear her.
"Hong Kong." Ben said with a sigh. "But you can bet I'm going to drag his scrawny ass back here."
Teneke watched the conversation. "Sometimes phone service is unreliable, especially to the United States." Teneke said apologetically. "Ever since the city was handed back over to China, the communists are vying for control of just about everything. They touch nothing to do with the economy, but phone service is fair game."
"Yeah... this is so where I want to stay." He said with a grumble. "Sorry, don't mean to sound ungrateful But I am definitely a spoiled American... plan to stay that way. I'm still really tired, is there someplace I can nap out for a while?"
"Of course." Teneke said as he showed Jack to a room. "We'll have some clothes brought, since you left in such a rush." He said. "The intercom works, the communists can't touch that, so call if you need anything."
"Yeah... thanks." He said as he went in and sat on the bed, taking out his wallet. He removed Kaylie's picture and propped it up on the bedside lamp before kicking his shoes off and stretching out on the bed.
The days past, phone service was lost, then they gained only local service. Teneke and his aides taught Jack how to control himself, but everytime he seemed to almost have it, he'd backslide and tear a room apart. Which couldn't have pleased Teneke more at this point.
Back in Texas, Ben woke Dean up. It was early morning, but Ben didn't sleep much. He didn't need to. And right now he felt that Dean didn't need to either.
"Dude...!" Dean said with a scowl and pulled the pillow over his head.
"You were sick after that dinner with the Hsiaos, right?"
"Dude..." Dean said, but saw Ben wasn't leaving. "Yeah, thought I was getting the flu again."
"But it passed."
"I'm not puking, am I?" Dean said. "You woke me up to check on the state of my health? I'm touched."
"Shut up. What were you wearing?"
"You're really not my type." "Dean..." "I don't know. Jeans. Boots..."
"Protection wise." Ben interrupted him.
Dean opened his eyes a bit and told him. The amulet, the bracelets. "That's why you were sick and that's why Jack went into a rage."
"Not following."
Ben rolled his eyes. "Wake up." He said again. "Teneke did something to the food, you rejected it. Jack didn't."
"Shit." Dean said and sat up with a groan. "Fine, let's go to Hong Kong."
SNSNSN
Sam had enjoyed the last few days on the lake. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on under the surface of the water. The fog wasn't right, the air was too cold at specific times... consistent times.
He sat at the lap top pulling up records of the lake and the local area going back as far as a hundred years to put together the pattern. "Ah, a working holiday." Father Pavel said with a laugh as he brought out the coffee. They spent a majority of the time outdoors, even if it was just sitting on the porch. Clean air, sunshine, they were both relieved for it. Sam finally had some color back in his face, he was moving better. Yes, this was a good idea.
"Yeah... " Sam said distractedly. "Did you know that there have been over a hundred deaths on this lake in as many years?" He said, not that most people would think that odd but this wasn't a major tourist location. Small lake, small town, deaths didn't happen as often on the water.
"And I'm going to assume this is a pattern you've picked up?" Father Pavel said as he sat down and took his coffee mug. "What does the pattern tell you?"
"It tells me there is something that drags people out into the water and drowns them. I just haven't figured out what or why yet. Unfortunately I need answers to both of those questions before I can deal with it. I think that's why we have been getting so much fog. Ever notice that it rolls in at about the same time every night?"
"And it's not a normal weather pattern?" Father Pavel said. He wondered if Sam was reaching for a hunt.
"Something about it feels... off." Sam said. He couldn't pin point what it was. But there was something out there and it wasn't just the illusive 50lb musky.
Father Pavel nodded. "So what would we do next then?" He asked. "The fog is thick every night."
"I'm gonna go get my gear." He said, wanting to get an EMF reading out there. "Don't go out on the docks or anything until I get back. Shouldn't take too long." Sam was back in hunter mode... Winchester Mode really, and it felt good. God it felt good.
He stepped into the nearest shadow and reappeared in the storage unit where he was keeping his truck during their travels. He opened the false bottom in the bed of the truck and started to grab what he thought he would need.
"Why are you fighting it, Sam?" The demon said. Just a voice, he hadn't bothered to take anyone right now. "The exorcisms...you think they'll win you points with God? God turned his back on you when you were conceived."
"No... no he didn't. God hasn't even really turned his back on you. I have experience with estranged fathers. " He said as he continued to pack. "And even if he had... it's another fight that you haven't won, another day I get to be Sam Winchester, not some sigil no one can pronounce."
"Why are you making this so hard on yourself?" The voice asked. "Why must you make me remove all the obstacles in your path?"
Sam stopped. "Don't you go changing the deal. You alter it, and it's null and void. The agreement was that I let the process start... that I open up to it... and I stay away from Dean and Jack, and you would allow me to do what ever the hell I want while I have a body of my own to do it with."
"Yes, you had to open up to it. You think traveling through shadows is opening up to it?" The voice snapped. "Surrounding yourself with holy relics, including that priest, is not opening up to it. It's hiding from it, trying to batter it down, destroy it a little at a time. It won't work."
"Yeah well, look on the bright side pops, every time I send one of your lackeys back to hell, I lose a bit of my soul along the way. So... who knows... maybe I'm just choosing my own path down the mountain." Sam said as he grabbed his now over flowing duffle and stepped into the shadows to return to the cabin and leave behind the creature that had taken everything from him and still screamed for more.
Father Pavel looked up from his book as Samuel returned. Then his eyes narrowed. He could feel the slight shift. "Working holiday for us both I suppose." He murmured.
"What?" Sam asked setting down the bag and looking around him. "Damn it, you followed me, didn't you? Leave me alone."
The demon hovered in black inkiness, with yellow eyes glinting through the swirling smoke that was his form. He had intended to finish the priest and take his son now, deal or no deal, but this one...
He reared back, almost looking to have a form for a moment, "You... " He spat at the priest, for the first time in nearly four hundred years that tone was false bravado.
Father Pavel put his book down reluctantly and stood up, looking at the swirling blackness. "You have no place here." He said, with much more authority than his body looked able to project. "You cannot have him."
"You are wrong, priest." It intoned. "He gave himself to me already. It's just a matter of time. Just a matter of his realizing that all he touches dies, better to embrace what he is and end his own pain." The swirling mass moved back as the priest rose, as though distance would keep it safe.
"You're scared of him." Sam said with a grin, and laughed. "He's got your number, doesnt he?"
"Leave this place." Father Pavel said. "I ask only once, then I act. You do not want me to act."
"I'll see you soon, Sam." The demon said. "I think I'll go check on the family for you... while you're tossing that precious soul away on people that don't give a damn." He said then erupted upward and out of the cabin.
"Sorry... he was waiting for me back at the truck. I didn't know he would follow."
"It's perfectly alright, child." Father Pavel said as he sat back down and picked up his book. But he looked at Sam over the top of the book, a glimmer of amusement lighting his aged eyes through his reading glasses. "But I did tell you one day you would fear me, did I not?" It wasn't arrogance. It was God given power. Literally.
Sam laughed. "You know... that was actually a reassuring moment." He said. Knowing that if the yellow eyed demon feared the priest, then the old man would have no trouble besting him. "My dad would have loved to have seen that." He said digging out the EMF meter. "I'll be back in a few." He said heading for the door.
"I have no plans on going anywhere." Father Pavel said with a chuckle as he settled back with his book, as if a Fallen Angel had never paid him a visit.
Sam walked down to the pier turning on his EMF meter, and watched it go steadily upwards. What ever was there was putting out a lot of juice.
SNSNSN
Jack slammed the bedroom door and locked it behind him. He leaned against it and slammed his elbow against it again and again and again. A howl of rage escaped him and he tore through his bedroom with all the destructive force of a small tornado.
Teneke waited, until he was quiet, and knocked on the door. "Jack, I know this is difficult. But you are slowly making progress." He called through the door. the progress was helped by lack of communication with the interlopers of course. The communists weren't ACTUALLY fooling with the phones, but Jack was raised in America. They had such a fear toward communism that it was easy to believe.
"This is not fucking progress!" Jack yelled out, but stayed clear of the door. "It's one step forward two steps back. I gotta get out of here. Screw all of this. I want to go home. "
"Jack, you are where you need to be. Please open the door so we may talk about this." Teneke said calmly.
Outside, Ben and Dean were outside the gates. Had taken forever to track the place down, seeing as it wasn't in Teneke Hsiao's name and all. But they were there finally. "So should we knock?" Ben asked dryly, tossing his cigarette away.
"Screw that." Dean said with a laugh as he started to scale the wall, clearing the other side. Ben rolled his eyes and went to flare tot he other side. And found himself back where he started, as if he got punched in the gut.
"Ben?"
"Can't get through." Ben said, angrily.
Hendrickson was watching through the security cameras and picked up the phone calling the main house. "Tell Hsaio we have company. Winchester and the demon."
Teneke took the call. "Take care of him." He said bluntly. Not letting the man on the other side of the door know what he was talking about. "Jack, you need to come out. We've got a disturbance." If Dean managed to get past Hendrickson, he didn't want Winchester to find Jack.
"Fine, I'll be back for you." Dean said as he started across the lawn. Jack hadn't called, there was some proof that this was all a spell, and Dean's gut instinct was screaming at him.
Hendrickson made his way out of the security office and across the lawn. "You keep turning up like a bad penny, Winchester. If you have half the survival instinct I think you do, you will turn around go right back over that wall and take your demon buddy with you back to Texas."
"Obviously you don't know me as well as you thought." Dean said. He couldn't help but smirk, he'd been waiting for this one. "Because I'm not leaving here without Jack. So are you going to keep talking, or can I just kill you now?"
"I don't know, can you?" Hendrickson asked as he stepped forward. "Jack is fine. He is with his family. His real family."
Dean scowled and punched Hendrickson. "No, he's not." He snapped. Real family? Real family didn't hold you hostage, right? And he was sure that's what was happening.
Hendrickson grinned and stepped up to the fight. He had been wanting to beat the living hell out of Dean Winchester since he had first been sent after the brothers. Now was his chance.
It was something very primal. Jack was his younger brother, more than that, he was the baby brother. The one he had found late in life, and he wasn't going to be taken from Dean now. He was already trying to make up for lost time. That and Hendrickson had tried to get him executed. So it was personal. Either way, Dean was all in on this fight. It felt good. So he didn't stop. Not that he didn't take blows, oh man he was taking blows. He felt a rib snap at one point. Which was just what he needed. His knee was wrenched at another point. But it didn't stop him. Because Dean was relentless.
He finally did stop, when Hendrickson dropped for the final time, and Dean watched his body vanish. Into thin air, as if he had never existed. And in Dean's mind, right now, he didn't as he headed into the house to find Jack and drag his ass home.
The remaining security staff moved in having watched the fight on the surveillance cameras. "Stop right there." One said in heavily accented english.
"Oh man." Dean said, frustrated. "Come on, guys, I really am not in the mood for this." Like the 'bad guys' ever listened to that. But it was worth a shot, even if he knew it was a failed shot as he got jumped, his knee buckling under the extra weight.
They pinned Dean down, and zip tied his hands behind his back, and pulled him up to his feet once more, and escorted him into Teneke's office, shoving him down into a chair.
Dean was cursing up a storm, but the men weren't affected. They ignored him. They'd done their job as one went to report to Teneke, leaving two in the room with Dean as a few others returned to their normal post. They were speaking in Chinese to each other when one of them dropped, revealing a very shocked Kaylie. She'd seen it on TV, didn't know it would work, as the shattered remains of a vase collapsed with the guard. The other went for Kaylie, and Dean kicked at him with his good leg, and followed it up with a kick to the head.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean demanded.
"You're welcome." Kaylie said as she found a pair of scissors and cut the ties. "Where is he?"
"Sorry, they skipped the grand tour." Dean said as he limped toward the door. He could run if he had to, he was just hoping he wouldn't have to. Man, his leg was throbbing and he was using the wall for support.
Teneke Hsiao opened the door to find Dean and Kaylie standing there, and raised an eye brow. "You might as well sit down, both of you. " The girl he had not known about.
"Yeah, sure." Dean said with a roll of his eyes.
Kaylie looked at the man. "I want to see Jack. Now." She said, looking for all the world like she was about to stamp her foot and throw a tantrum. She'd broken so many freaking laws just to get here, then assaulted someone she didn't know. Her patience was at an end. "Or I'll scream. Jack's got this really weird way of hearing me when I scream. So I want to see him. Now."
"Sit down, child." Teneka said with a long suffering sigh. "Jack is.. in another of his rages at the moment. You will want him to calm down before you see him. I am sure you remember your last encounter with my grandson." He looked to Dean then back to his security officers. "Escort Mr. Winchester to the storage room in the basement until I determine if his presence requires the attention of the authorities."
"Sorry." Kaylie said to Dean. Then she took a deep breath, and let out the most blood curdling, loudest, highest scream she possibly could. Which would have made any horror movie queen insanely jealous.
Kaylie was right. Jack heard and recognized that scream. It wasn't one that he had heard often in his life but it was memorable... and it made his heart clench.
"Kaylie." He mumured and was out of his room in seconds flat, running toward the sound, wondering if he hadn't gone completely off the deep end. There was no way Kaylie could be here... she was in Texas. He rounded the corner and pushed past his grandfather into the office. "Kaylie." He said and looked her over quickly. "Baby, what are you doing here?"
Kaylie stopped screaming when she ran out of air, shortly before Jack rounded the corner. She gave Teneke a look that clearly said 'told ya so' when Jack came in. He didn't look like he was in some sort of rage.
"You don't call, you took off with barely a word, Jack you didn't even pack." Kaylie said. "Then Ben and Dean leave in a rush, and Ben's outside and he can't get in, and this guy wants to lock Dean in the basement after his security people already tied him up and beat him all to hell, and I knocked that guy out, and I..." She said as she took a breath, having talked in a rush. "I don't know. I just kinda...came."
Dean sat down finally, his leg stretched out. Oh he was going to regret this in the morning. His head had been pounding before Kaylie decided to call Jack in her own special unique way. Teneke looked at Jack. "The young man broke into my house and assaulted my staff."
"Bull shit." Dean said. "Well, kinda. They started it." "And Jack, you know you're not...well, right now." He said as he gestured to Kaylie.
Jack pulled Kaylie close, and held to her. His grandfather's words striking home. "The phones have been screwed up." He told her. "Or I would have called. I swear. I love you." He told them both, then looked at his grandfather "You know he's my brother, and you know who Kaylie is. You didn't have to have him hurt."
He kissed Kaylie gently then moved to look at his brother's leg. "And there is no way in hell he is going to be locked in the basement." He winced as he looked over at the knee. "That's gonna be the size of a melon come morning. It's not broken though... no clue what you might have done to tendons or ligaments. You sure know how to make an entrance, you know that?"
"It's a gift." Dean said, not breathing deep, because if he could he could ignore his ribs. "Besides, I have something important to say. Nevermind Ben was the one that figured it out, and he can't come in."
"I don't allow demons in my house." Teneke said cooly. "Jack, I will have them taken to the airport first thing. Kaylie was not hurt, there was no reason for that scream." Which had pierced his own ears, truthfully.
"I'm going with them." Jack said. "You've been great and all but I'm not getting better here. I think it's time to try things back home. Trust me... if anyone can keep me from going too far it's Ben."
"Jack, there's a reason you're not getting better." Dean said in a rush. Before Teneke could say anything. "That night, in the restaurant, I got sick. We ordered the same thing man, I got sick. You didn't. Because I pack more protection than you." He said, lifting the amulet he always wore as an example. "Dude, they're poisoning you or something."
"Nonsense." Teneke said. "Jack, see reason. You cannot go back to Texas. You don't belong there."
"I don't belong here." Jack said. "I think I am seeing reason for the first time since leaving the restaurant. Now you can arrange for a plane ride home, and we can sort this out long distance if I decide to forgive you, or we can walk out the front gate and take the Ben Express home and you can damned well believe I wont forgive you at that point."
"I'm taking the Ben Express regardless." Dean said with a chuckle. He didn't do planes if he could help it.
Teneke nodded. "Of course. I must think this over myself first." He said and left the office, locking the door behind him.
"What the hell?" Jack said hearing the lock and going to the door. It was that simple to key in the rage again. Jack focused his anger on that door slamming into it with a force that should have splintered it repeatedly.
"Dude." Dean said, reluctantly getting out of the chair as Kaylie backed away. "Come on, settle down." He said as he went through his pockets to his trusty (and always carried) lock pick. "Oh this is gonna hurt like a son of a bitch." He mused. The getting down to the ground and back up. He so needed a beer and some percocets a this point. "Jack, move." He said. He couldn't get to the lock if Jack was slamming into the door.
Jack turned his angry gaze on his brother and it was all he could do not to take his aggression out on Dean. He took two shuddering breaths and backed away from both of them. "You think they are doing this to me?" Jack asked through clenched teeth.
"Well," Dean said as he lowered himself to the ground with a painful groan, "did you seriously want to beat the shit out of me before we all broke bread?" He said, sitting on the ground. Because kneeling or squatting was definitely out. "Or, an even better question, a month ago, would you have ever tried to drag Kaylie anywhere like what happened before I beat the shit out of you?"
"Never in a million years. They said it was because of the magic... how it awakened with no training. But it's not getting any better, man. I don't know what to do... I'm trapped here, and I'll hurt people if I go back."
"Dude, they brought it out while I was still on death row. You were fine till the end of my trial, and right through a week and a half later." Dean pointed out. He was having some trouble with this lock, dammit. "You were even fine when we got to the dinner." Kaylie took a step closer to Jack and put her hand softly on his arm. "It's okay." She said softly.
"It's not okay, Kaylie. I scared you... I was a bastard that night... I hurt you... that is never gonna be okay." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I am such a fucking idiot. I'm sorry."
Kaylie looked at Jack for a long moment and took her hand off his arm. Then she closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his midsection. She was a tiny person, not far above five feet tall, but tall enough that when they were both standing, she could hear his heart by resting her head against his chest. "You were, and I forgive you." She said.
He closed his arms around her, feeling the closest thing to at peace since this whole mess had started. "I love you... thank you." He breathed, then looked at Dean. "Losing your touch?" He asked in regards to the lock. "No." Dean said with frustration. "It's unlocked...at least the lock is. Can't open the damn door though. Maybe the windows and we'll make a break for it?" He suggested.
Jack swore. "It's spell locked." He said and moved to the window to see if it could be opened. But there was no joy to be found there, either. "No such luck." He walked back over to his brother. "Let me help you up off of the floor at least, that can't be good for that knee."
"Dude, my knee is fine." Dean said with a scowl as he got up under his own power. How could he convince them to make a break for it when the opportunity presented itself if he had to be picked off up the floor after all? He limped over to the chair and flopped down in it. "Okay, they have to come check on us at some point, right? So we'll overtake them."
"Right." Jack said, although he wasn't so sure. Dean didn't know what he was up against, Jack did. These weren't rent-a-cops, or barroom bouncers. His grandfather's security force was hard core. "Maybe I can reason with him and get him to let you two go back home."
The door opened and Teneke entered followed by two of his guards. Kaylie was going to argue that point, about her going home without Jack, when the door opened.
Dean raised an eyebrow at them. "Well, that didn't take long." He said, dryly as the guards approached him. "Whoa, honch, we already went through this."
"Take him." Teneke said in clipped tones. Dean put up a good fight, but his knee put him at a disadvantage, one they were more than willing to exploit as he went down in a cry of pain before being knocked out. It was clean, it was nearly graceful, but Kaylie still cringed at the sound of Dean getting whacked in the skull with a pistol.
"Jack, I know this is difficult to understand. I don't expect you in this moment to try, but if you value Miss Ingham, you will not move."
"And if you hurt him again, I will kill you." Jack said firmly, stepping between his grandfather and Kaylie. This wasn't the rage speaking. This was Jack. "Why are you doing this? God, I thought the evil that was in Mom came from the demon. Hell, it probably came from you. The demon was more sincere."
"You said it yourself your mother kidnapped Winchester for a purpose the last time. It's prudence to find out why." He said with a nod as the burly men picked the unconscious Dean up. But even unconscious, he moaned slightly at his injuries being aggravated. He waited until they were gone, disappeared around the corner. "Perhaps Miss Ingham can tell that Ben to leave, rather than leaving him pacing outside and littering my sidewalk with his cigarettes."
"Send her outside the gates, let her go home." Jack said. He wasn't going to leave Dean here with him. "She kidnapped him to torture my father. Nothing more. Just send them both home. Ben will take them out of here and I'll stay."
"Certainly." Teneke said with a bow of his head. "Miss Ingham, you're free to go." He wasn't budging on Dean though.
"Jack...no." She said, ignoring Teneke. "I'm not leaving here without you." Knowing the minute she walked out the door she'd never see him again. "And you won't leave without Dean. Ben won't leave without all of us. Well, he might leave without Dean." She said with a weak smile.
He turned her to face him. "I don't want you here. You saw what they did to Dean. I need you safe. " He said caressing her cheek. "I'll be home, one way or another, count on it. I love you... we're going to see all those plans we made happen. But I need you to go, Angel." Ben would go on the warpath. His grandfather had no idea what he had just started.
To say Kaylie didn't agree with this would be a huge understatement. But she nodded. She kissed Jack, and clung to him for a moment before leaving with one of the security guards.
"You will be able to see her leave through that window." Teneke pointed. "To assure yourself that she will not be harmed."
Jack moved over to the window and watched. "What is it that makes you think this is going to work? That some how threatening and harming the people I love is going to endear you to me. "
Teneke shook his head. "They cloud your mind." He said. "And you let them." He watched the blonde American go through the gates, then turned toward Jack. "You will understand one day."
Kaylie jumped at the sound of the gates closing behind her, a clang of iron against stone. ANd looked for Ben. He wasn't there. Anywhere. She was now alone in Hong Kong, with no plan other than to find Jack. She did that. Other than that, nothing. So she sat outside the gates, back against the stone, knees up to chest, trying to figure out what to do.
Teneke turned from Jack as his phone rang. "Listen up you son of a bitch." Ben said in fluent Chinese. He'd been alive long enough to master as many languages as he wanted to. "I want to see three humans, you know which ones I'm talking about, outside your house or more than your store in Hong Kong is going to burn."
"There is one waiting out side my gates now. Take the girl home and cut your losses. My grandson has an undue attachment to his brother so they shall both remain."
"Not acceptable." Ben said. "I'm in the produce section right now. Place will go up like timber. If you're smart, you'll get your employees out of here. And I will personally wring the neck of anyone I cross that has connection to you if you so much as hurt a hair on any of their heads. Including Dean. Your magic can keep me out, but it can't stop me. You can't stop me. Don't push me. You've got an hour."
Teneke hung up the phone angrily and phoned his store, warning the employees to close down the store, then spoke with his security force, sending out some of them to deal with Ben at the store.
"That was Ben." Jack said knowingly. "If you are smart, you'll do what he says. He won't stop until he destroys you.. he made a promise to my mother to protect me. This whole thing is pointless anyway. You can't brain wash me. Not now that I am on to you. "
"On to me? That's a little overblown, don't you believe?" Teneke said with a frown. "Everything works out as it should. I have no fear in that. He's long lived, but immortality is for the gods, not demons."
"You did something to me to bring on the rages. No onto you isn't over blown. " Jack said. "I just watch you order my brother carted off to some basement so you can experiment on him to find out what it was my mother was after in him. You are gonna tell me you're one of the good guys after that? Get real." Jack wasn't worried for Ben. Ben could survive anything his grandfather could dish out. He didn't have any such illusions about Teneke. He started toward the door. He was going to find Dean.
"Jack, don't." Teneke said sharply. "Dean is no longer your concern now. Your girlfriend has been released, but Dean is older business than even before I knew of your existance."
"Dean is my brother and will always be my concern. Enjoy whatever fires Ben is starting for you, cause it's about as close to your ancestral fires as you are going to get. "Jack said in return and started down the hall.
Mei ducked around a corner as Jack slammed out of her brother's office and waited until he passed, then grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into a room, covering his mouth with her hand. "Shh!" She admonished. "I know where he is, but you cannot go to him right now."
He had to force the tension to leave his body looking down at his aunt. He pulled her hand away from his mouth. "Why should I trust you?" He asked in whisper soft tones. If she knew where to find Dean, then he would play along for now.
"You do not have to. It is common sense, Jack." She said softly. "You find him now, you will be overtaken. You know that. And he is in no condition to help you, is he? As much as it pains you, you must wait. For the time." She reached into her pocket and brought out a bag filled with herbs. "I do not expect you to trust me. But should you decide to, then take these with your food. The food will nourish you, but it will not enchant you. Now I must go. Tell no one that we spoke, I will take your girlfriend to a hotel." She knew the girl was waiting outside with no clue on what to do now. She nodded and moved away. Jack couldn't understand her predicament. He was a man raised in America. She was a woman raised in China.
Jack tucked away the herbs and sighed, then nodded. "Thank you... for taking care of Kaylie." He said. "Where have they taken Dean?" He asked. He couldn't get him out of there but he couldn't let him go through this alone. "If I don't try, they will know something is up."
"He is in the basement. There is a storage room in the back, behind the laundry facilities. It is behind a hidden door." She said with a sigh. She reached up and cupped Jack's face. "I see much of your mother in you. The good part. The part that broke away from this family, ran to America and never looked back."
Jack looked at her wanting to see in her some part of his mother, some part of her that was good and kind and loving. Because that was the woman he remembered. Not the one that kidnapped and tortured children and young men. "Why is he doing this?" Jack asked.
"Because no one has ever really told him no before. When he wants something, he is used to getting it." Mei said. "He does not deal with disappointment well. He never has. He never thought he'd be without male heirs."
"apparently no one ever told him that old adage, you get more flies with honey." Jack grumbled softly "okay... time for me to go and tear the house apart looking for Dean." Jack said. He couldn't actually find him just yet, because that would be too telling, but he had to make a show of it. "Go take care of Kaylie. We'll sort out getting Dean out of here later."