Dean hated the idea of having a babysitter around, especially when it was for him, but under the circumstances he could overlook it with the understanding that it was mainly for Ellie; he could endure anything for their little princess. He knew that Caleb had already double checked the property boundaries to make sure that nothing stood out as being disturbed. He had to hand it to the hunters, they were thorough.
With Ellie sleeping, Dean made sure that the baby monitor he and Sammy had set up was on, and settled in on the couch with a beer and the remote determined to try to keep his mind off his little brother; so far it wasn't working, but a guy had to have goals, right? Hearing the door open, he already had his gun trained at the doorway even though he already knew that it was Caleb.
"Come on man, don't you know that if you're going to shoot someone you should at least look at them?" Caleb joked as he dropped onto the couch next to Dean.
"Why, with as big of a target as you are, I doubt I could miss." Dean said with a smirk.
Caleb acted wounded with Dean's remark, but he knew that it was a good sign that the kid was starting to feel better about the whole situation of not being at the hospital with his brother. "So how's she doing?" he asked, hoping that the little girl upstairs wasn't too agitated.
Glancing up at the ceiling, Dean let out a sigh. "Well, she knows that he's not here and she's not thrilled with it, but I know it would have been a whole lot worse if I wasn't here too." He looked over at the other man and saw that he agreed. "You know, the beer's in the fridge, the waitress has the night off."
Laughing, Caleb nodded and got up to get himself and Dean a couple of beers, somehow he knew that neither one of them were going to sleep tonight. "So, what's in the DVD player tonight?"
"Well, you know we have a wonderful collection. So, what do you say, Aladdin, The Lion King or Fox and the Hound?"
"Wait...what? You mean you guys actually got her to watch something that didn't have a princess, or someone singing in it?" Caleb asked shocked, "How'd you manage that?"
Dean shrugged, "At first we thought it was because of Todd, but we actually thought we heard her giggle at Copper." When he saw the question on Caleb's face, he smiled. "We were in the kitchen, and you know what they say 'if a tree falls in the forest while no one is around, does it make a sound?' So, instead of making a big deal about it, we tried to wait to see if possibly it would happen again."
Somehow he knew that it hadn't been easy for them to sit back and wait, "So, any ideas of how to possibly make it happen again?"
"Yeah, maybe… any ideas how to house break a puppy?"
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John watched as his youngest child slept and he had to wonder about the hunters who claimed to be friends while others saw his son as a threat. Not knowing if he'd ever understand the mentality of others, he tried to keep his thoughts away from the actual circumstances and concentrate on the here and now.
Mary quietly woke and watched her husband as he sat vigil by their Sammy's bedside and couldn't help but remember the first time that John had done that. The first night Sammy was home, John had insisted that everyone leave the new sleeping baby alone. That would have held more weight if Mary hadn't seen John in the nursery standing there watching their baby boy sleep the whole night. Now though their baby boy has grown, but she still sees the resemblance of then and now.
"How is he John?" she whispered, not wanting to disturb her son who seemed to have finally fallen asleep.
Looking at Mary, John smiled, "His vitals are strong and he's sleeping soundly for now. I don't know sweetheart, the doctor is enthused but I can't help but feel like something's about to go wrong."
Nodding, Mary knew exactly how John felt. Ever since they had been told that Sammy had come out of surgery she had worried that something or someone was going to try to take her baby again. She knew it was an irrational fear, but considering their history she knew that it wasn't too far fetched. Instead of answering though, she stood on the other side of her son and smiled at her husband while they both held Sam's hands and waited for another day to dawn.
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Josh knew that he had waited too long to report in, and now he was wishing that he just conveniently 'forgot' to call in altogether.
"You were to make sure you're there his whole stay."
"Look, I already wrangled the extra shift, but there's no way they're going to agree with me being here the whole time; the kid is sick and he could be here a week or longer."
"Damn it, why so long?"
Looking at his phone in disgust, Josh answered in disgust. "Let's see, maybe because the kid got shot in the chest and only by a one in several thousand chances that he's alive now."
There was a long pause from the other end of the line before the other person finally spoke again. "I had heard that but didn't believe it, is it really that bad Josh?"
"Look Brian, I've been doing my best to make sure that the only ones who are close to him are the ones who should be, but I have to tell you man, it hasn't been easy. He has hunters as friends and hunters as enemies and you don't even want to get started on the people that he's supposedly friends with here in town."
"What friends?"
"Man, if you want to find that out, then you really need to do the legwork yourself; I'm on babysitting duty remember? Look, you're worried about your nephew, I get it, but you need to make a decision; are we in or are we out?"
"I'll let you know, until then just keep Sam alive."
The call was immediately cut leaving Josh feeling more frustrated than he had been before getting grilled for half an hour over the phone. Sighing, he looked at the time and knew that his lunch was over but he still needed to grab a sandwich before heading back. After all, everyone knew a hungry Josh was not a good thing.
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Jason knew that his target was still alive, that was obvious. His problem at the moment was trying to figure out why these people cared so much for this freak enough to protect him; it wasn't like he was actually human. He could never understand people and how they let their emotions get in the way of doing what was right. After all, people like this Johnny wouldn't hesitate to bring their Lord and Master to surface if given half a chance, so it was actually a public service to put them down before their powers came into full force.
He had actually thought he had this one taken care of awhile back, but he had gotten away and disappeared for awhile, even his friend Cade didn't know where he was for a couple of weeks. Thinking about what he had initially planned for Johnny Doe was minor compared to what he now thought about doing. Before he would have entertained the idea of making it a quick and somewhat painless death, but now, after seeing how he had integrated into normal society, he knew that he needed to make him pay.
If he had any regrets about what he would do was the little girl. He had heard from a co-worker of Dean's that she had some form of Autism and it was taking the whole family pitching in to make sure she had a decent life. That was one thing that he grudgingly could give the freak credit for, he was trying to make that little girl's life better; not all people were like that. Feeling angry for the small amount of admiration he was starting to feel for his prey, he quickly glanced around the diner he was currently eating breakfast in. How many of these people had a clue to what was really hiding in the shadows, or worse in broad daylight? Not many he was certain. Getting up to pay his bill his gaze settled on someone that looked slightly familiar, and although he couldn't think of who it could be, he knew it was time to go.
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Bobby had been trying to track Jason down the whole night, and he finally found a stronger lead which led him to bar in a part of Lawrence that he hoped the Winchester's never found out about. It didn't take too long for him to find out that Johnny had already done business with a few of the more colorful people with no ill will, but Jason apparently had already burned a few bridges and would be needing to watch his step while he was in town.
Feeling as if he was on the right track, he allowed himself the luxury of checking a few other places to get a feel for where the boy hadn't been. Seeing that he had been right in his theories, he quickly went back to where he left off and started his search again. After several hours and not enough coffee later, Bobby was ready to give it a rest for while. Pulling into a small out of the way diner, he walked in and couldn't believe his luck; sitting in the back corner was the very person he was looking for.
Picking a corner booth at the front of the diner, Bobby was able to see everyone inside and especially Jason himself. It unnerved him that the kid didn't seem to care too much about his surroundings, and was actually lost in his own thoughts. 'Fool kid's going to get himself killed with his lack of attention.' He thought as he drank his coffee and waited for his meal.
He had just finished his breakfast and the equivalent to a pot of coffee when he saw Jason stand up and casually glance around. It didn't take a genius to see the kid had made him, but what puzzled Bobby was the fact that either he thought he was really being casual, or he really didn't care about being seen.
Quickly leaving enough money to cover his check, Bobby followed Jason out into the parking lot. It didn't take him long though to realize that the kid had disappeared. 'What the hell?' he thought, 'I was right behind him, where'd he go?'
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Dean and Caleb both had their guns trained on the door at the first sound of it being opened, scaring Mary in the process. "Mom! What the hell… are you ok?" Dean asked, unnerved that his own mom had been in the line of fire even if only for a second.
Shocked, it took Mary a moment to pull herself together. "I'm fine Dean; I just didn't expect to be a target so early in the morning." She said flippantly, trying to lighten the men's moods. "Your brother slept through the night, and that nurse Josh says he's already showing signs of improvement."
Looking at Caleb in somewhat surprise, Dean shrugged his shoulders with a bewildered look before turning his attention back to the issue at hand. "Uh, Mom… not that you're not welcome, but what are doing here?"
"To watch over a certain little girl while you're at work, you know that."
Rubbing his face with one hand, Dean quickly looked at the calendar on the fridge before shaking his head. "Mom, you got this week and last week mixed up, I'm off for the next four days."
Shaking her head Mary simply said, "Nope, you switched with Sal Jenkins so he could be with his wife when she had the baby. I heard all about it from Sal's grandmother at church."
Dean thought about it, and then looked at the clock. "Ah damn it! I'm going to be late, and Ellie's not up yet. What about Sammy mom? I was planning on spending time up there with him, but now I won't be home for a couple of days."
Caleb watched Dean go from calm and cool to wound up like a top in only a few moments. "Dean, don't worry man, I'll help your mom with Ellie. You know as well as I do Johnny's not going to let you risk your job over him."
Dean knew that Caleb was right; his little brother had been extremely stubborn about the whole idea of him taking any unnecessary time off from work. He just didn't feel right though about leaving his family in a lurch like this. "You know, I'm sure I can take the…"
"Go Dean! We'll manage just fine for the little amount that you'll be gone." Mary said with more confidence than she felt. Her boys had their own system when it came to Ellie, and a lot of it had to do with an instinct of what she needed at whatever time, and no one else had been able to tap into that yet. As she watched her oldest boy head upstairs to get ready, she was startled when she heard Caleb next to her.
"Don't worry Mary, you're not alone, and I'm sure between the two of us we can give Ellie whatever it is that she needs." Caleb said quietly, while at the same time wondering if they both were just deluding themselves. 'Johnny, you better get well quick, this family needs you more than you know.'