AN: Hope you like this one, don't forget to let me know!
Dean knew that he was thoroughly screwed, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Two days into his time off and he was asked to come back in to cover one of the newbies who had fallen off the truck while checking the hoses; that meant that he was going to be gone tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, and he knew his mom was planning to go all out in celebration of having the whole family together. Sighing, he made the change on the calendar and quickly explained what was going on to the family before he headed out; he just wished there was a way to help Ellie understand the sudden change.
Mary knew that Dean was disappointed, but as she explained, they'd celebrate when he got home again in four days. She was glad that they kept a calendar of his schedule though; otherwise she'd never know when he'd be home with the four days on three days off, then three days on four days off. It was more than she could keep track of in her head. Watching him rush off, she knew that her next job would be to keep Ellie occupied until Sammy got home.
Sam knew something was off as soon as he walked in. He couldn't place it at first, but then a note on the fridge caught his eye and he quickly understood; Dean wasn't home. It amazed him how he could almost feel if his brother was around. He hadn't told anyone, mainly because he hadn't grasped the concept himself yet, but he was starting to get used to it. As he walked into the living room he saw his mom and Ellie practicing with the toy phone he'd been working with her on. He had put pictures on the speed dial buttons to their house phone so she could reach anyone she wanted; the problem was teaching her how to use it appropriately. The fake phone helped her associate the words she should use when talking on the phone… in theory anyway.
"Hey Sammy, how'd it go?" Mary asked, while trying to show the little girl the pictures again.
"Uh, ok I guess… it's hard to say. The multiple choices went well, but the essay's are going to be trickier since he sometimes has his aide's grade them instead." He answered as he sat next to Ellie on the floor. "Hey sweetheart, did you have a good day?" Ellie didn't answer or even acknowledge his existence which concerned Mary, but made Sam smile. "She's upset that Dean's gone."
Puzzled, Mary looked at her son and wondered why that would make him happy, then the answer hit her upside the head. 'She noticed when Dean suddenly isn't where he's supposed to be – a broken pattern.' A small thrill ran through her as her imagination ran through all the things that it could mean and she prayed that she was right in her assumption that she was becoming even more aware of her surroundings.
"So, is Thanksgiving off?" Sam asked, not really understanding what the big idea was anyway; they always ate next door for Sunday dinner so it wasn't as if there was anything unusual except for the day.
"Nope, we'll just wait until Dean's back home, so we'll carry on with it on Monday after your father gets done at the shop and you're home from classes." Mary answered, knowing that Dean had been disappointed since he was actually scheduled off on Thanksgiving and then would have been back to work the next day.
Nodding, Sam understood what she was saying and had to agree, Dean would be upset if they missed a family holiday.
SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN
Jason had been unable to find just the right person he needed for the job at hand, but that was ok since he knew it meant there would be fewer people who knew what he was really up to. He would be glad to get this job over with, his resources weren't as flush as they had been, and with Holly clinging to him like a lifeline it was difficult at times to break away and get his other things done.
Luckily he had managed to accomplish most of his prep work ahead of schedule, and with the holiday tomorrow, he knew that he had the perfect excuse to not be available. After all, he couldn't help it if his mother wanted her son home for Thanksgiving, right? Smiling, he thought of everything he could learn in the amount of time it took others to eat their feast and watch a football game or two.
Walking around the old apartment building again, he made sure that no one would be able to hear what transpired inside. He had picked out an inner room and placed soundproofing to the walls. It wasn't aesthetically pleasing, but then again, he didn't care whether the freak liked it or not. As he arranged everything on a table, he made sure he didn't forget anything; he didn't want to give Johnny even the slightest chance to escape.
Confident everything was ready, he had one more stop to make, and then he could carry out his plan and send the demon spawn back to hell.
SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN
Caleb wanted to hit something, anything, he wasn't picky… really, he wasn't. But damn if that Jason kid wasn't giving them the run around. He and Bobby had heard from a very upset Mary that Jason had weaseled his way close by and she was concerned now not only for her son, but her friend's daughter too. There was one thing that sent Caleb's blood raging besides a child being harmed, and that was someone hurting a woman. He knew Bobby felt the same way, and after everything the older man had gone through, he couldn't blame him.
Now though, they both felt like they were following a ghost; they were always a step behind and not certain the trail was solid. It hadn't taken them long after finding out just how close Jason was, for them to understand that they had made a huge miscalculation. They now knew he'd been staying at a nice hotel claiming to be businessman looking for a new place to call home. Unfortunately, it looked like the young hunter had already cleared out of his room leaving them with a feeling of dread. Their biggest lead and they were too late.
Riding the elevator to the lobby Bobby suddenly spoke. "What's that girl's name that Mary was telling us about? Doesn't she work here?"
Thinking for only a moment, Caleb nodded and smiled. "Not bad old man, I think you're on to something. I'm feeling a little peaked, maybe a bite to eat will help."
"Now you're talking boy, let's see if they have anything decent in the joint."
As they walking into the restaurant close to the lobby, they immediately could tell who Holly was; a sweet girl trying her best to keep her head above water, and the girl looked like she couldn't tread anymore.
"I'm telling you Holly, the man is no good." A waitress was telling the younger woman during a lull in customers.
"No, Jay's alright, he's just busy right now that's all. It's not like he's hurting me or anything." She defended, not wanting to believe that she'd been shoved to the side so easily.
The other woman was about to say something else but noticed the two men approach and thought better of it. Something told her that they weren't there for iced tea.
"Excuse me, are you Holly?" Caleb asked, hoping that they wouldn't scare her, but they needed some answers… fast.
Looking at the two men in front of her, Holly wasn't sure what to think, but knew that if she suddenly got into any trouble then her friends in hotel security would be right there to help her out. "Yes, I'm Holly. Do I know you?"
Bobby knew that this wasn't going to be as easy as they hoped. "No, but we're friends of the Winchester's and Mary is concerned about the young man you've been seeing."
Holly laughed and shook her head. 'I should have known Mom would overreact and get Mary involved.' She looked at the men and smiled, "I know that my Mom got Mary upset, but I can assure you that everything's…"
"Holly, we believe that Jason used you to get close to Mary's son Sam. He's dangerous and needs to be stopped before that family loses their boy again." Caleb said as gently as he could, but something told him that no matter how he said it, it was still going to be painful to hear.
"I don't understand; I've never met Sam. How could he think that…"
Knowing that they were running out of time, Bobby stepped in and he wasn't going to take the gentle route. "Look, you went to school with Dean, right? Graduated in his class, maybe even had a few college classes with him? I bet that you didn't mind sharing that about yourself because it didn't seem like a big deal. You might have even mentioned that Dean became a fireman and that his mom and your mom are friends. I'm sorry Holly, but we need to know where Jason is before he gets what he wants; Sam dead."
SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN
Sam knew that he should be thankful to have family so close, but sometimes they were a little too much. Although his dad had started to relax and understand that he's not planning on bolting out the door, sometimes he got the impression that his mom wasn't to that point yet. Shaking his head as he poured another cup of coffee, he was hoping to extend his night a bit since he was in dire need of doing some research if he had any hope of passing the final in his history class.
Seeing that Ellie was content with another painting, he took a moment to step outside and enjoy the sunshine. It had been cloudy most of the week, and it seemed that when the sun was actually shining, he was stuck inside. He knew that there wouldn't be any prying his little princess away from her picture since she was almost done; once she got started, she hated to be disturbed, so he stood there on the front porch relishing the warmth of the sun on his face and the heat from his cup in his hands.
Hearing something strange coming from the backyard, he walked back inside and locked the door before checking on Ellie again. "Ellie, stay here, ok baby?" he asked as he made his way to the back door and outside. He knew it wasn't his mom since she went to visit her friend Allison again, and his dad was still at the shop, so either it was a big cat that was making the racket or someone was snooping around.
"Hey!" He yelled seeing a man looking through one of the back windows. "What are you…" His voice trailed as he fell to the ground, unaware of the second person emerging from the shadows with a crowbar in his hand.
SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN
Dean was sitting at the table in the Rec room playing cards with a few of the guys enjoying the camaraderie since he couldn't be home with his family. Everyone had been understanding about his distracted attitude, and had even let him know that they appreciated him giving up his time off to come in when they all knew this would have been his first Thanksgiving with his little brother and niece. He appreciated how much they cared, but felt awkward around their compliments; it wasn't like he won the World Series or anything.
They were starting another hand with the other guys telling stories of the previous years where people would catch their houses on fire while frying their turkeys, or how some do-it-yourselfer will inevitably get stuck on his roof because he suddenly feels that he can get better reception from the satellite than the cable guy. As they were in full swing of story telling, Dean heard his cell phone and distractedly put it on the table and answered it by hitting the speaker button.
"Yeah…" he called out, hoping that it wasn't his mother who just heard the story of the woman who had opened the door in a towel. Suddenly though, as he heard the sweet little voice, he knew it was much worse.
"Dean…hurt…"
Suddenly the room was quiet and Dean felt as if his heart stopped. "Ellie? Ellie sweetheart, are you ok, are you hurt?" Dean was already on his feet along with the rest of the crew making their way quickly towards the trucks. The next words that they heard made them rush even faster as if they could sense the urgency that she couldn't express herself.
"Johnny hurt… hurt… Johnny…"