Can Dean put his grief behind him and save his son?
Dean woke up the next morning feeling the same as he did yesterday. No something was missing. He did not feel so empty. An involuntary smile played across his lips. He and Mason "worked" on the Impala all night. The boy refused to stop even when Rebecca bought out his cake. He was fixin' his baby. Now he was standing in the door waiting.
"Are you awake?" The boys' normal arrogant tone was soft and frightened.
"Yeah, buddy what's wrong?" Dean sat up it the makeshift bed.
"Are you still nice?"
His heart constricted. "I think I am."
"Mommy says we are going to our new house. Are you coming?"
"I'm not going to stay but I'll be there all day and when you wake up in the morning I'll be there. I promise." The boy looked at him before nodding. "Where's your mom."
"Packing." He pointed towards the closed door. "Grandpa and Uncle Bobby are coming."
"Where's uncle Sam?" The boy shrugged. "I'll be up in a few minutes."
"O.K." The kid did not move from his spot at the door. "Are you going to kiss mommy again like that other man did?"
"I don't know." Dean wanted to be honest.
"Are you going to get up?" Mason stared at him. It had been creepy at first but now Dean understood he was looking for honesty.
"Dean needs some privacy." Rebecca came out of their room carrying the black bag. "Men need privacy in the morning like women do."
She shooed the boy and closed the door. Dean flung back the covers and willed his morning erection to go away. It had to be a good sign because he had not had one in years. He looked over at the make shift alter and waited for the anger or despair. He did not feel either. There was no sadness or loss. He simply felt free of the anguish he had been drowning in for years now.
Today he wanted to take his son home and show him his room. Maybe build a swing set in the back yard. He showered and dressed quickly. Thoughts of the day before brought a smile to his face. Mason laughed at him. He listened to Dean. His mind work fast. If Dean told him the name of a tool, he remembered it. The kid smiled at him.
He hurried down to the yard where Sam was loading up Masons presents. He went to stand by his little brother.
"So?" Dean asked.
"So?" He looked confused.
"Come on Sammy. You always have some Oprah ah ha moment crap. How do I do this?" Dean looked mildly frustrated.
"Court her." His brother frowned. "Dean, bring her flowers, take her to dinner, talk to her, find out what she likes, things like that. Don't ogle her. She's more than just a pair of breast and a nice ass."
"So you noticed her ass?" Dean teased.
"No…yes… shut up." He closed the trunk of the Impala. "Dad and I were talking last night. Since Rebecca is helping Bobby set up the website. Maybe you should stick around and help with Mason."
"You and dad have been making plans for me?" He tried to act offended but he was grateful. "I was thinking the same thing man."
"How are you feeling man?" Sam touched his shoulder.
"Great, like I can breath, finally." Sam nodded. "I can't let him down man. I did this to him. I want my son to be happy."
The subject of their conversation came running out of the house followed by his mother.
"Mommy said we need to go shopping for the house." He skidded to a stop in front of his father. "Then she said we can get lunch and go see the air planes."
She grabbed the excited boy and swung him in a circle. "Bobby said there's an air show in town. I hope you don't mind."
"Let's take everyone. Sam, call Jo and Ellen. Mason go get grandpa and Uncle Bobby." he swat the boy on the butt. "We can stop at Bitterman's to get lunch."
"Or while we're at the store. I can get some turkey and beef and make your favorite Dagwood sandwich." She remembered.
"The pie comes from Bitterman's." He opened the car door.
"Deal." They shared a smile. She shifted nervously from one foot to the other.
"What's wrong?" he asked concerned.
"I usually ride in back with Mason." She looked away.
"Rebecca, if we're going to make this work you need to give me a chance. That includes riding in the front seat of the car." She nodded and took her place in the passenger seat. "Mase."
"Here I am." The boy came running at full sped.
"Jo and Ellen are going to meet us at Rebecca's." They slid into the car. Sam waited for Rebecca to move to the middle of the seat. Her leg brushed against Dean's thigh. She began picking at her nails.
Sam looked at his bother over her head. Dean took her hand in his as his pulled out of the scrap yard. She seemed to relax some.
The stop at the Bargain Mart took longer than they expected. They needed to wait on Ellen and Jo to help with their haul. Sam rode back to the house with them.
"Why doesn't Sam ask Jo out?" Rebecca asked quietly watching the couple from the kitchen window.
"Sam and Jo?" Dean took a quick peek at the pair who stood in the back yard talking.
"They like each other. I think they just need a little push in the right direction." She smiled at him. Dean caught his breath. She really was beautiful.
"What's the plan?" He moved closer to her. His hips rested next to hers.
"Mason." She smiled and retrieved a pair of scissors from the drawer. "And flowers."
"Rebecca you don't know if they even like each other." He followed behind her.
"Hey Ellen," The older woman looked up from the table where she, Bobby and John were studying the nearly complete website. "Do you think Jo likes Sam?"
She snickered. "Only the way Dean likes pie."
"Told you." She raised her hand in triumph. "Carnations or roses?"
"Is that important?" She rolled her eyes. Thanks to the cream Pam gave him, his bruises were healing quickly.
"I really kicked your ass." She laughed leading him through the door.
"Like that's something special."
"You should have seen your face when I racked you…"
He stopped and peered into the open window at his family. "So you know the possessed feel everything the possessor feels if they are awake."
There was a loud burst of laughter.
"It's not funny." He muttered.
"Yes it is."
Dean stood on the porch remembering the day. Rebecca was right Sam and Jo had the hot's for each other. They left the air show early to catch a movie.
He remembered how much he loved her sandwiches. The meat to veggie ratio was perfect and she never told him the brand of spicy mustard she used.
He was waiting for her to finish telling Mason his bedtime story. The family gave them their space as they looked inside the planes. Somewhere between the Wright Brothers plane and the B-52, he took her hand. He held it when she tried to pull away. He arched a brow to their son who was watching them closely. She smiled for the child although Dean had seen the confusion in her eyes. It was worth it the kid took his hand on the walk back to the car.
"He's out." She closed the door softly. "You wanted to talk about today. I'm having a hard time with the while family thing."
"I know but we don't have a lot of time to fix this, us before we lose Mason again." He stepped closer to her. "You can't keep pulling away from me."
"I can't forget Dean. It's burned into my mind and every time you touch me it's like that time all over again." She stepped back away from him.
"If Mason came to you and said he wanted us to be married what would you tell him?"
"I'd do anything to save our son." She said aggressively.
"It's going to take more than that." He ran his hand over his heavily muscled chest. "I think Mason can feel what we feel, like an empath. After I took the brew, his attitude towards me changed instantly. You can fake every smile and feeling but if you don't feel it then he's going to know."
"So what do I do? Missouri said that I had to heal. I don't even know how to start."
"I want to take you out tomorrow, just you and me. Sam and Jo can watch Mason. We can do something simple."
"I've sort of taken up photography, well I had, I left my camera. Anyway, John said I should see Beacons bluff while we were here. I'd like to hike that." She began tugging at her shirttail. Dean sighed and took the hand in his.
"So tomorrow around two we can have our first real date." He squeezed the hand he held. "You can trust me this time Rebecca. Lock the door."
She watched as he walked to his car before she went back into the house. She could trust him but for how long before he broke and ran? Rebecca felt a chill like there was something whispering in her ear. She hurried to kitchen the cabinet and removed the bag of sage that Missouri had given her. She lit a bundle and began to wave it around the room. She carefully walked through each room in the house until she reached the attic then she lit the tiny bowel of red oil that sat there. A sharp gust of wind flew past her. The glass in the small window shattered. Rebecca sat back in shock.
Missouri had said there was something evil following her. She did not want to believe it but now. This thing wanted her baby to continue to suffer. She rushed back down to the kitchen for her cell phone. With trembling hands, she dialed his number.
"Please come back." She quickly whispered what happened as she closed to Mason's room. "I'll tell you when you get here. Alright."
She heard his tires squeal in the drive. She could hear him searching the house.
"Rebecca," He said into the phone. "Unlock the door."
She stepped back from the door and flipped the latch. Dean pulled her trembling form into his arms. "You kicked a demons ass and you let a little spirit scare you? Wuss."
"I kicked your ass the demon was just a bonus."
"Funny."
"I changed my mind you can stay here. The other bed is already made up, just please don't go." She sobbed into his shoulder.
"All right, but tonight we sleep together." He heard her intake of breath. "You, me, and Mason."
Dean sealed the window with plastic and drew a devils trap on the floor. He never thought he would want to thank a demon or spirit or whatever it was. He spent half an hour park in a donut shop strategizing with Sam about how he was going to get closer to Rebecca. He had to admit sex was his game relationships were Sam's. Step one: was for her to trust him enough to let him stay at the house. Thank you hell's bitch. Step two: was to get him to trust him. That was the hard part. They had two days at the most before his guys said hello to her girl; If the demons plan worked. He was praying for a girl. He was praying for divine intervention. Anything to save Mason.
When he got back to her room, she and Mason were snuggled in the bed.
"Is everything all right?" She sat up a little in the bed.
"I'll fix the window in the morning." He took off his jacket and boots before climbing in the bed.
"Dean?" She whispered.
"Yeah."
"All that money and those jewels. If the demon was trapped, how did it save them? I mean he said they were from you. Bobby said they were really old." She looked over the sleeping boys had. "It had to have help."
He did not say anything. He had talked to Sam about the possibility but he did not want to scare her.
"I don't want to go hiking tomorrow. I want you to teach me how to protect our son." He sighed. Rebecca sat up and pulled him with her. "I trust you to help me protect Mason."
The fierce look in her eyes stopped his breath. She was trusting him. Really trusting him to protect them. "Tomorrow."
She nodded. They lay on either side of their son and drifted off to sleep.
He looked around. He remembered this place. Big Piney River in the Ozarks. It was crystal clear on the top unless you threw a rock then it would kick up all the mud. There were trees everywhere. More trees then he remembered seeing. The sky was bright blue and the stars. There were millions of them at night. His dad was hunting a werewolf with Bobby. Sam and Dean stayed with friends near the river they were just ten and six. The old man, he could never remember his name, took them on their first fishing trip. They sat on that boat doc for hours just waiting for a bite. He felt so comfortable here. Like it was home.
He heard a crunch behind him. Mason stood there watching him.
"Are you real Mason?" He asked.
The boy walked up to him and took his hand. "I remember here."
"You were here before Mason?" Dean knelt down next to him.
"You, me, and mommy, her hair was red then. we stayed here for a long time until that girl came and took you away." He frowned.
"Cassie?" The boy nodded. "Cassie is gone Mason forever."
"I know the Angel told me." He said as he took his father's hand.
"What Angel?" They were back in the room. Castiel sat next to Rebecca. "Castiel?"
The Angel whispered in here ear. A white smoke slowly poured from her mouth into a large vase he held. It seemed to go on for hours. Castiel's voice became louder and more insistent. Rebecca's body shook and she choked as it thickened. Dean took a step forward but Mason pulled against him.
"I do not understand why after everything you have seen these past weeks it never occurred to you that a demon would possess her?" Castiel put a lid. "Doamos, a fear demon. It has been squatting in her soul for eons feeding on her doubt."
"Why now? Why did you wait so long?" Dean asked impatiently.
"You just asked." With a flutter, he disappeared.
Dean's eyes popped open. The rainfall across the sky light. Mason stood next to the bed staring at him.
"I'm hungry." Dean sat up. Rebecca lay sleeping next to him.
"Did your mom wake up?" He asked getting out of bed.
"No." Mason shrugged.
"Really?" His son nodded. "Did the Angel come back?"
"What Angel?" Mason gave him a strange look.
"Nothing kid." He ruffled the boys' hair.
"Can you cook?" He asked skeptically.
"Let's go find out." They walked through the door. "Better closed this."
It's a new beginning, Maybe.