Totally AU, Dean came and went in the pilot, and Sam and Jess stayed home, got hitched, grew normal. Doesn't mean the demon wasn't going to come.
So basically, I should be studying for chemistry. And what better way to do that then write another chapter of my story. Lol. ERGH.
This chapter is dedicated to the wonderful human being who put In My Time of Dying on youtube, so that ppl all the way over here in little old Aus, who wouldn't have otherwise seen it until like February, could watch it.
Thanks for all the reviews! They were awesome!
Oh, and I made up the town. Don't know enough about American geography to be accurate.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It felt odd to be in the Impala without music blaring from the speakers, accompanied by Deans enthusiastic but off key singing. However, Jamie was asleep in the backseat and the car was quiet to allow him the respite.
"Well Sammy, I've gotta say that this is the most middle-of-nowhere place that we have ever visited."
Sam nodded slowly, not really listening to what Dean was saying. He felt dazed and tired, and now that they were here, in the town where dad was, he could feel the need to get the demon building and building and building. It was somewhat akin to the going to sleep on Christmas Eve, though what was being looked forward to so desperately was not presents and joy, but fighting and death.
"Well, looks like there's only one hotel in this place. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say dad's there." Dean said, pulling into the somewhat run-down looking Ridgeville Hotel. "Sammy, I'm gonna grab us a room, you stay here and guard the car. Some hillybilly local might come and try and glue my baby's doors shut and paint a damn flag on her roof."
He replied with another vague nod.
It took them sometime to move all the things into the room, the movement made more difficult as it was attempted to be done quietly so that Jamie could keep sleeping. If Sam had been in a better mood, he would have laughed at the sight of Dean tiptoeing into the hotel room carrying Jamie in his capsule. As it was all he could think was that Jess would have laughed at it, she had always loved physical comedy. His heart clenched.
Dean was on his second trip to the Impala to get bags when he spotted their father coming out of a diner across the road.
"DAD! HEY! HEY DAD!" he bellowed across the parking lot, making the few people who were on the main street of town (which Dean privately thought looked about as occupied as a cemetery at midnight) give him funny looks.
His father looked up, a rare smile spreading across his face. It was brief, and by the time he had made his way across the road it had vanished back beneath John Winchesters usual scowl, but Dean had seen it all the same.
"Dean. Glad you guys could make it." His voice was slightly gruffer than usual, but it let Dean know just how worried his father had been since they split up that fateful night only a week ago. It seemed like so much longer.
"It's good to see you dad." It was a moment where any normal family members would have taken the time for a hug. Instead John launched into a discussion of what this town had to do with the big picture.
"The pattern says that it should be here soon Dean. I still have the colt, damn thing was in such a hurry to get to Sam's before you did that it forgot I had it."
"Dad, are you sure it's not another trap? The last time we followed the pattern…" The words 'I was tortured by a creature in your body, and Sam's life was ripped apart' weren't spoken, but they hung in the air between them.
"I'm sure Dean. I've been here for the past three days, scoping the place out. I know which child it is, I know where they live. I've been inside the house, met the parents. This isn't a trap Dean. And we are going to save that family and take this damn thing down."
There was a new level of intensity in his father's desire for revenge. An increased passion that had only manifested since they were parted.. He wondered if it was because of the damage that had been done to the Winchester sons, or simply because John was angry that he had been trapped by the damn thing.
Dean decided he would give his father the benefit of the doubt, and go with option A.
John continued to explain the plan he had developed as they walked into the hotel room, explaining that the demon was due the following night and that they had a lot of work to do.
When they entered it became apparent that Dean's tiptoeing had been for nothing, Sam was about to pick up a very awake Jamie, who was gurgling and hiccupping unhappily, apparently on the verge of a full blown tantrum. Sam spun when he heard two pairs of heavy footsteps enter the room and then stopped as if he'd been struck by lightening.
"Dad!"
Jamie stopped when John and Dean walked into the room, and an oppressive silence followed. In the heat of the moment no one had actually realised that Sam and John hadn't seen or spoken to each other for more than 8 years.
The gruffness in John Winchesters voice had increased ten fold when he stepped forward.
"Sammy. I'm so sorry Sam, more sorry than you'll ever know. But I want you to realise that we will get this thing." He paused briefly, "I may not have been the best at keeping promises when you were growing up, but I want you to know that I will keep that one."
Sam still didn't speak, and Dean almost cringed at the awkwardness of the silence.
And then, as sudden as a thunder clap Sam and his father were hugging, tears pouring down Sam's face.
There were whispered 'I'm sorry's' from John, and desperate sobs from Sam that communicated just how much he was relying on his father to get this thing once and for all.
Dean, unable to stand just how much of a bystander he was in the moment collected Jamie, who was beginning to build up to a tantrum again and walked quietly out the door, shutting it softly behind him.
They wandered down to the park, that was old but not unpleasant and Dean found a seat to sit on with Jamie. He unstrapped him from the capsule and moved him gently into his lap.
"There you go kiddo. Uncle Dean's got ya."
There was a soft breeze blowing, and Dean leaned back and closed his eyes, just enjoying the sunshine.
He opened them again to find Jamie looking up at him, appearing to still be deciding if he was going to begin wailing or not.
"I know kid, I know you most likely want your dad at the moment, or even your mum for that matter, but well, mum's not here with us anymore and dad, daddy needs some time. What he's doing at the moment? Wouldn't stop him for the world. He really needs to let out some of what he's feeling, and your grandpa is the person who is most able to understand how much pain he's in, because he went through that with your grandma. You following Jamie?"
He laughed out loud at the look on his nephews face and went back to talking mindlessly to the kid. His mother had told him once that babies won't understand what you're talking about, but they still appreciated the effort, and so to keep Jamie happy he simply talked about everything and anything he could think of.
Two hours later Dean spotted his father walking towards them across the road. It had been an enjoyable two hours for Dean, just sitting on that park bench, not really having to worry about anything, chatting to an 8month year old baby about important topics like the Impala, Cassie, brownies, baseball and James Dean (the actor) (because a baby has a right to know why he's being bagged out for his name). It was nice just to be able to sit down from the stress and pain of the week, to not have to try and think about every word he said to avoid upsetting Sam, or reminding Sam of something from his life before.
It was nice, to, just for a moment be reminded of a time when he was four years old and had chatted about just as inane topics to another baby, with a pretty blonde woman laughing and chiming in every now and then with useless facts of her own.
John came up to them, as Dean made no real move to go to him, far too comfortable sitting in the sun.
There was a brief pause as he came up to them, looking at Jamie before fixing his gaze on his son and raising an eyebrow.
"I remember the day that you and your mother did that to Sam."
They both looked at Jamie, who was sitting perfectly calmly in Dean's lap, apparently not realising that he had a bright blue duck booty on either ear.
"It was mums idea back then." Dean said, enjoying the memory. "Don't know what really made me think of it."
John nodded slowly.
"Hows Sammy?" Dean asked, switching his mind away from memories and focusing on the present.
"He'll be ok." John's voice was rough, and Dean could see that whatever Sam had said when they were together had affected him too. The situation was so similar to Mary's death that it would have been impossible to comfort Sam without being forced to remember the fire that had happened so many years ago.
"Will you?"
He nodded, apparently not trusting himself to speak for a moment.
"So this is my grandson?" John said after a few minutes, his eyes twinkling as he looked down on Jamie, who was attempting to suck his foot.
"He looks like Sammy did." Dean observed quietly.
"Can I hold him?"
Dean paused for a moment, wondering if the quiet, tear filled excited tone that his father just used had been the same one he used when his sons were born. Hearing that voice, he could picture the father he had known, the man who loved baseball and ice hockey, and who carried his son around on his back pretending to be a horse, standing in a hospital with his beautiful wife asking if he could see his boy.
"Sure you can grandpa" he laughed and handed Jamie over, taking the booties off his ears.
As John held the baby, his voice croaking out something about Mary's eyes, Dean wondered if it was soon going to be his turn to comfort a sobbing man.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Well, hmmm, still not much action, but we're building. There would be more, but I really need to pass this chem exam.
Review please! I'll love you forever!