The Disenchanted Ghost of You

By: gengen0776

Chapter notes: Sorry for the delay there was a glitch on the site and every time I came to update it wouldn't let me upload my file…thanks for your patience and your reviews!

Chapter 3

"See, John's gonna be fine," Jo smiled as she turned on the hot water, before turning to help Becca out of her bloodstained shirt. Becca tried to help, tried to move but all she could manage to do was shiver as she stared at the wall afraid to see her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She stood quietly trembling as Jo wet a washcloth beneath the hot water and went to work gently cleaning away John's blood from Becca's stomach and side. "Okay, now you need to wash your hands," the blond instructed, handing Becca a bar of soap and stepping aside.

Becca moved stiffly forward still avoiding her reflection in the mirror, though she noted that it was now fogged up with steam from the hot water running below it. Mechanically, she washed her hands barely noticing the scalding water. Finally, Jo closed the water and helped her dry off her hands. "Thank you," Becca whispered hoarsely. Jo smiled kindly at her as though it were the most normal thing in the world that she should need help changing and cleaning up. "I-I'm usually…I'm just…I don't know what's wrong with m—"

"Don't worry about it," Jo soothed as she eased a black t-shirt over Becca's head, aiding her to find the arm holes, before helping her into a warm flannel shirt. "Perfect," she whispered, adjusting the collar. "I figured you and I were the same size." She smiled warmly as she gathered up Becca's hair and let it fall down her back. "Your hair is an awesome color…is it natural?"

"Uh…thanks," Becca replied after a long pause. Jo was so patient with her, much more patient than she could ever imagine herself being. "Yeah it is."

"Ready to head back out there?" Jo asked, lacing her arm around Becca's unsteady form. "You look about ready to drop," she noted as she balled up Becca's ruined shirt and threw it in the garbage can before gathering up the towel and wash cloth. "You should get some rest…I'll make you up a—"

"After I see John," Becca interrupted. There was no way she could sleep without seeing for herself that John was all right. She found herself wondering why she cared so much. She'd only known the guy a couple of hours and barely knew a thing about him. Yet there was something about him, something that made her feel safe. He did save me from Ray and his goons. Maybe that was it, admiration for her savior.

As they returned to the bar area they could hear voices. Becca felt relieved and safe at the sound of John's voice. Again she found herself questioning these feelings as a smile spread across her lips at the sound of John's laughter.

"S-So she gave you her n-number…n-no ticket," John managed as he continued to chuckle. "You'll have ta teach me that one sometime."

"Sorry, John ol' boy it's not something that can be taught," Another husky and strangely familiar male voice replied. "You either got it or ya don't," the other man chuckled smoothly, quickly joined by John's laughter.

"S-Sonuvab-bitch…don't make me l-laugh," John gasped as he continued to chuckle. He was clutching his side as Becca and Jo came into view. "Hey, Becky how ya feelin'" John asked his face turning serious at the sight of her pale form.

"Don't call me that."

"Don't call her that." Rowan and Becca replied in unison.

"Fine, no Red, no Becky…what's a guy s'pos…" John's voice trailed off as he looked from Rowan to Becca and back. "Wait, you know her?"

"It's been a while, almost three years," Rowan replied absently, staring at Becca's quaking form.

"Y-you…no…no I-I…you're not…r-real," Becca gasped, her voice barely a whisper as she stared at Rowan in disbelief. "Th-they said…they t-told me…I-I imagined y-you." She back away unsteadily as Jo tried to calm her. Becca didn't notice, her wide eyes never left Rowan as she crumpled to the ground.

"Becca!" John raced to her side as Jo tried to comfort her. "Becca?" John whispered, crouching next to her. He cupped her chin with his hand, forcing her pale face to look his way.

"Not real…can't be…not real," she breathed, her eyes staring unseeing at him. John tried calm her, whispering in a low soothing voice.

"What the hell's go—?" John demanded as he stood up and turned to face Rowan. The words died on his lips at the sight of Rowan's face. One look at the vampire's wounded expression and John knew Rowan was just as upset as he was.

"She needs to rest," Rowan uttered in a broken whisper. "Jo, do you have a place for her to…to sleep?" he asked softly as he leaned in and scooped Becca into his arms. Jo simply nodded and led the way.

"Is she going to be all right?" Jo whispered as they reached the small room farthest from the bar.

"Of course, she just needs rest," Rowan replied, without his usual confidence. He laid Becca on the bed. Her whispered mantra quieted now as she stared up at him. "Close your eyes, Becs. Sleep now, darlin'," he soothed watching as her eyelids drooped closed. "That's it, sleep. Everything will make more sense in the morning." He gently stroked her cheek until her breathing was slow and even and he was sure she was sleeping. Then he pulled the blanket from the bottom of the bed and draping it over her, before turning to leave the room with one last pained glance her way.

John stood waiting for him outside as he emerged from the room and pulled the door closed. He moved wordlessly past John back to the bar, where he poured himself a shot of whiskey and waited for his friend to join him. He'd had many ideas of how his reunion with Joshua's first guardian would play out, but this had never been one of them. They convinced her it was all a lie.

Sadness filled him as he remembered how heartbroken she'd been when Michael had taken Joshua from her to pass him on to his next guardian. I should never have let her leave, I should have stayed with her, helped her through it. Instead she'd gone home to her mother who couldn't possibly believe the story Becca had told about where she'd been and what she'd been through. Angels, demons, vampires, special children that needed protecting; they'd convinced her none of it was real.

"Who is she?" John asked sliding onto the stool next to Rowan. He waited as Rowan swallowed the shot of whiskey, slamming the glass down against the bar with enough force that it shattered to pieces.

"She's a guardian," Rowan replied, staring down at the shards of glass scattered across the counter.

"What's a guardian?" Jo asked, reminding them both that she was there with them.

"Jo, honey, you should get some rest," John suggested. "We'll lock up," he added as she opened her mouth to argue.

"Fine," she replied crossing her arms as she headed down the hall to her room. "G'night," she called over her shoulder.

"That lil' thing was a guardian?" John stared a Rowan in disbelief. "She can't be more than eighteen."

"Nineteen, actually," Rowan amended with a sigh. "She's a lot tougher than you think." A nostalgic smile played momentarily on Rowan's lips, but evaporated as quickly as it had appeared. "She was Joshua's first guardian."

John was silent a moment as he took this in. From what Rowan told him Joshua was about three years old now, that meant that Becca was only sixteen when she'd been given the responsibility of watching over the cosmically important child. "She was just a kid, how could they put that kind of responsibility on her?"

"Well, some might disagree with puttin' a gun in your son's hand and teachin' him what goes bump in the night when he was six. But hey, who am I to judge?"

"Th-that was different," John huffed reached for the bottle of whiskey.

"Was it?" Rowan watched the warring emotions on his friend's face as he poured himself a shot of the amber liquid and quickly swallowed it down. They sat in silence for a long moment, each lost in their own thoughts and memories before Rowan spoke again. "I want you to train her to be a hunter."

"No way, she's just a kid." John shook his head, groaning at the pain the movement sent through his injured head. "Have you seen her? That would be like training Jo to hunt. It ain't gonna happen my friend."

"You don't know her like I do. She's…she's fierce," Rowan described, the same nostalgic smile, tugging at his lips as he stared at the bar. "An' she's good under pressure…I mean she got ya here didn't she?" He added, meeting his friend's gaze, daring him to deny that Becca had saved his life.

"And then she broke. We both just watched it happen," John countered, sadness coloring his voice. "I won't be the cause of that again." He scrubbed a hand across is battered face as he remembered the lost look in her eyes.

"Th-that wasn't your fault," Rowan insisted his voice thick with regret. "That was all me." John gave him a questioning look as Rowan pushed away from the bar and began to pace. "I never should have left her to deal with the fall out alone."

"Fall out?"

"After she'd finished her time with Joshua, I just left her to pick up the pieces. I should have stayed with her. I should have helped her deal with the loss she felt." Anger and frustration were building within Rowan and he longed to break something; to pick up a chair and throw it against the wall. He struggled to keep his composure, wishing he could drown his sorrows in a bottle of whiskey like his human companion.

"Why didn't you?" John asked calmly from his perch at the bar.

"Be-because." Exasperation colored Rowan's voice as he stopped pacing and turned to face John. "Because Michael wanted me to help the next guardian," he added raising his arms in defeat, before letting them fall with a sigh. He could see what his friend was doing. John knew that he would have stayed with Becca if he could have, he knew somehow without Rowan ever telling him that he hadn't been able to. "I still should have tried…I could have kept her close, or with us—"

"But two guardians close together like that, it would have been too dangerous. Isn't that what you told me? No two guardians can be with Joshua for too long or it will put him in danger."

"Stop that!" Rowan hissed. Why'd I have to tell the guy so much? And why does he have to remember every goddamn thing I tell him? Rowan sighed as he fell onto the stool next to John. "Look, all I know is that I let her go home without a believable story to tell her mother and I think the woman had her committed. I think they forced her to believe that none of it had happened that neither of us, not Joshua or I, really existed. An—"

"An' when she saw you—"

"It broke her." Rowan toyed with the pieces of broken glass on the bar. "I-I have ta fix her, John. I have to help her find that strong, fierce girl she was…An' I need your help ta do it."

End Notes:

So finding out a little more about Rowan and Becca's history here…let me know what you think! Reviews are like peanut M&Ms so please keep'em coming!