Greetings, Oddballs! Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. Thanks again for all the encouragement on this left-field fic. Thanks as always to my theological adviser and editor, charis-kalos, who exercised her editing powers on this chapter, and made it make sense! (Gee, where was she about 20 chapters ago? lol)
Chapter 41 Dog Days
Bela watched the Impala pull up in front of Singer's house. The boys stepped out of the car as casually as if they normally raced out in the dead of night. Well, what did she know? Maybe they did. Maybe they had ghost alarms they responded to.
She snorted back a giggle. Ghost alarms. That was a good one. Oh, God, she needed some sleep.
Her plan had already been put into action, but she probably wouldn't see any results until late morning. Plenty of time for sleep. Bela allowed her eyes to close and stay closed. Her mind continued to race, large numbers dancing in her vision, until she slipped into a blissful slumber filled with dreams of large houses, yachts, and pretentious yippie little dogs.
Hillary had waited impatiently for her boys to return. Now they waltzed through the front door, not even bothering to glance at her or apologize for taking off like that. She followed them up the stairs to their room. They were talking softly to each other and still hadn't so much as scratched her on the head. She sat by the door as they collapsed into the two beds. They forgot about her?
Distraught, Hillary waited until she heard the even sounds of humans sleeping. Satisfied her boys were sound asleep, she went back downstairs. She tried to open the front door, but she couldn't. Why didn't dogs have thumbs? She put her mouth on the doorknob, but couldn't turn the knob. Her teeth kept slipping on the smooth metal.
Disgusted, she removed her mouth and shook off the extra drool. Great, how was she supposed to get outside? Hillary stalked through the house searching for a way out. She found the door in the kitchen, but it was closed too. That did it.
Hillary headed back to the main room. She eyed the window in the front, the one she could see the car through. Decision made, Hillary bounded across the room, vaulted off the couch and through the window. She really hadn't thought that breaking the window would hurt, but it did. Hillary landed on the ground outside slightly dazed, her breath stolen by the impact. When she could breathe again, she shook herself off. Hillary stalked over to the car. Her boys were not leaving her behind again.
With a massive leap, she landed on top of the car hood. Hillary stretched out, claiming it as her own. Now they had to notice her. God, her head hurt. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to force herself to sleep and hoping the pain would go away.
When she felt warmer, Hillary opened her eyes. The sun was up, visible over the house, and the car felt warm under her. The big dog grunted as she stretched, rolling to her other side. Even her head felt better now.
"Hey!" It was one of her boys. Hillary lifted her head for a better look. Oh, her favorite!
"What are you doing on my car?" he demanded as he rushed toward her. She let her tongue loll out as she eyed him. This was working out really well.
"Hillary," he said in a warning voice.
She grunted her displeasure at being left behind all the time. Hillary had no intention of moving off this car until he agreed to take her along. Each time her boys left, she worried they might not come back for her.
He rubbed a hand down his face. "Frigging dog," he mumbled.
She grumbled at him. Dogs had much better hearing than humans so she heard him perfectly, and she did not appreciate the comment.
He rolled his eyes at her. "So what? You're staking out my car until I agree to take you with us?"
Hillary grumbled again, this time in agreement.
He sighed. "Well, if you're going to be riding in my car, I need something to put over the backseat."
She lifted her head to stare at him. Why would he need to cover the backseat?
"So you don't accidentally rip the seat and to make it easier to get the fur out," he told her gently. "You're still a dog, you know."
She snorted at him. Of course she was still a dog! What else would she be? Didn't he want her to be a dog?
Strong fingers scratched her head, moved around to her ears. Oh, yeah. Hillary melted under his touch.
"What's going on, Dean?" the voice of her other boy asked.
"Hillary feels neglected," he said, rubbing her neck. That felt so good. She rolled on to her back, legs sticking up in the air. Maybe her other boy would join in with a nice belly rub; he was really good at those.
"Why? Because we keep taking off in the car without her?" Those talented fingers massaged her belly. Yes! This was the life.
"I guess," her boy who always smelled of food said, both hands rubbing her head. "She better not have scratched the paint."
Her boy who had the musty smell of books snorted. "Yeah, like you'd do anything to her for it."
"I didn't say that!" Food-boy snapped. "I just said she better not scratch the paint."
Hillary stayed perfectly still, soaking up all the attention.
Food-boy looked at Book-boy. "You think there's a pet store in town?"
"What for, Dean?" Book-boy asked.
Food-boy's hands moved down to her neck again. When he reached a certain spot, Hillary found her right back leg twitching. The scratching on her neck increased, and her leg sped up to match. He chuckled. "We need something to protect the backseat."
"I'm sure Bobby has an old blanket we can use," Book-boy suggested.
Blanket? She knew where the perfect blanket was, but not right now. Right now she was occupied.
Bobby listened, but the house was silent. He could have sworn he heard voices a minute ago. After pulling on his pants, Bobby looked around the downstairs. It was empty and nearly silent, voices carrying clearly inside as though a window were open. Then Bobby noticed the gaping hole in his front window, the one which used to have glass. He rushed to pull on the boots that were standing by the front door before really checking it out.
The front window was shattered, from the inside. Most of the glass covered the ground just outside the house, like somebody took a baseball bat to it. "What the hell," he muttered to himself, leaning out the busted window.
The voices finally caught his attention. Dean and Sam were petting Hillary, who was spread across the hood of the Impala. Judging by the size of this hole and the fact there was no way Dean would just allow anything, much less a huge dog, to jump up on his car like that, Bobby was pretty sure he knew what happened.
"That stupid dog all right?" he called out.
Dean and Sam both spun around.
"What do you mean?" Dean demanded.
Bobby waved around him at the broken glass. "How do you think she got out?"
Sam's jaw dropped and Dean's eyes flared bright green.
"Hillary," Dean growled as he turned slowly to face the dog. "You busted the window?"
Dog noises, grunts and half-growls, reached Bobby's ears.
"That's no excuse!" Dean snapped harshly. Hillary curled up. "You could've really hurt yourself. Sam, help me check her for cuts."
"After that you can both clean up this mess, since your dog caused it," Bobby told them.
Dean's head turned to regard him for a moment before nodding in agreement. The transfer of dog ownership was official now. Besides, having a dog who didn't seem to care much for archangels did not exactly appeal to Bobby. He needed an anti-demon dog, period. Dean could protect the stupid dog better than he could now anyway.
Daniel checked the Cardinal's breakfast, even sampling it to be certain nothing tasted odd. Of course, here no one had ever heard of their order so there was no real reason to be so paranoid, yet Daniel performed all of his usual duties. If any of the larger, official, church organizations caught wind of their location before an angel could be procured, well, it wouldn't be good. That much was certain.
He still did not understand why their order had to be so secretive, but it was not his place to know such things. The Cardinal was in a better position to think. It was Daniel's duty to serve. Once, when he was a boy, he had been bold enough to ask why they could not speak the name of their order. To this day he carried the scars on his forearms proudly, a reminder of his duty and of lines not to be crossed.
When the Cardinal shuffled from his room clad in nothing but his favorite white bathrobe, Daniel hurried to help the old man sit down to his breakfast. He laid a napkin across his master's lap and held up a fork until the old man took it from his hand.
"Daniel, do you have any idea what finding Michael will mean for us?" the Cardinal asked in his soft, trembling voice. Daniel often had to strain to hear his master speak.
He knew an answer was not needed, it was not his place to know such things, so Daniel continued about his morning business. He flipped through the morning paper, searching for articles of interest. When he found one, he took that page out and folded it so the article was on top.
"It will mean validation. Acceptance." Light reflected off the fork as the Cardinal waved it excitedly in the air. His eyes shone with rare energy. "Even His Holiness the Pope," the old man wrinkled his nose in disdain, "will be forced to recognize our order."
Daniel nodded dumbly. He had heard this speech before, though perhaps not with so much fervor. As the Cardinal smacked loudly over his fresh fruit, Daniel hoped this Bela woman did not let them down. He hated what had to happen to those who had failed their order and for it to happen to a woman, well, it was something he would prefer not to witness.
Ruby skirted along the edge of Singer's salvage yard. She knew her former mistress was near, could sense the demon's presence. After much deliberation, Ruby had decided she could not pass up the opportunity of watching the demon who caused her to sell her soul be destroyed. She always did have trouble passing up temptation, hence her current state, so why not enjoy it if she could? And if it made the world a slightly better place in the meantime, well, so much the better.
A tow truck not belonging to Singer drove down the road. She watched it with interest, expecting a certain demon to be inhabiting the body of the driver, but he was completely human. What the hell was happening now?
Cautiously Ruby followed the truck inside the salvage yard. He pulled up to Dean's car, the beloved Impala, the one rumored among demons to mean more to Dean than his own life. The driver checked his clipboard, nodded, squinted out the window at the house number and nodded again. He opened his door. With a sickening lurch in her stomach, Ruby realized this man intended to tow the car. If he took Dean's car, Dean and Sam would go looking for it and possibly plan revenge on whoever or whatever planned this tow. They might not even be at the house when the demon came. This could not be allowed.
Ruby rushed to the front door to bang on it loudly. She couldn't enter, not without permission, Singer had too many wards in place for that. The front window was busted, a few shards of glass on the ground reflecting the late morning sun. Had the demon already attacked? Had she missed it?
"Yeah, we're coming already!" Dean's voice boomed through the yard. Relieved by the fact Dean was still alive so her plans were not wasted, she beat on the door again as the repo guy rushed to hook up the Impala.
"Where's the fire?" he demanded as the door swung open.
Ruby jumped aside, hoping he wouldn't recognize her. "You car," she blurted. His attention instantly diverted to the immediate problem.
She was about to let out a sigh of relief as Dean raced to the truck when she heard a low growl. The big-ass mutt stood just inside the doorway and Ruby could swear that dog's eyes had a faint glow, not unlike Dean's.
"She doesn't like you either," Sam stated. He seemed different from their other meetings, colder and more distant. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw somebody coming to tow that stupid black car and decided to let you know. You could thank me," she replied testily.
Sam's eyebrows dipped down, drawing together and wrinkling the skin. He would have age lines before he was thirty, she'd bet on it. "And you just happened to be passing by? And just happened to notice?"
Both were really, really good points. "Yes," she snapped, hoping her hostility would cover the lie.
"Yeah, right." Sam snorted. "What now, Ruby? Are you planning a surprise party and need some extra guests?"
The surprise party comment wasn't actually that far off the mark. Ruby snorted at him. "Fine, don't thank me. I'll be leaving now." She turned on her heel to stalk off when she felt the presence of her former mistress. Crap!
Ruby paused, glancing around. Where was she? "Sam?" she hissed.
He moved beside her, though she noticed he didn't come too close. "What?"
"Company," she whispered. "Not the good kind."
"You are not towing my car!" Dean shouted as thunder rolled in the air. Ruby glanced up at the clouds, not surprised she did not see any sign of rain in the white fluffy things.
A car pulled into the drive just behind the tow truck. The woman inside stepped out, smiling in a way Ruby remembered all too well. "That's her," she whispered as she tried to slink back, out of sight.
Sam strode forward, toward his brother instead of the demon. What was he doing now? She'd always heard how unstable the older Winchesters were, why weren't there any stories like that about the youngest? So far, Sam was the one who bothered her the most. With Dean Ruby knew exactly where she stood, but Sam kept her guessing.
The false smile from her former mistress told Ruby she had been spotted. Crap. Perhaps it was not as bad as she feared, perhaps the other demon assumed she was here to help. The smile warped into a nasty sneer and Ruby could see she had been made. Double crap. No point in hiding now. Ruby moved to stand with the Winchesters.
Her old mistress walked by the car, clearly heading for the tow truck, for them. This particular demon did not care for insubordination, Ruby knew all too well. Knowing the highest priority target had to be Sam, Ruby eased herself between him and the approaching demon.
"Why?" Dean roared at the driver. "Because this is bullshit, that's why! It's my car, has been since I was fourteen!"
The repo guy stood up to him. "You can't even get a driver's license at fourteen."
Dean stepped closer to the overweight man. "I didn't say I was legal, I said it was mine." His low growl vibrated through the yard. "And if you lay one finger on it, I'll make sure you regret being born."
"Excuse me?" Ruby's former mistress stepped between the arguing men. "You're Dean, aren't you?"
"In a minute," Dean snapped, waving her off. He pressed a finger into the tow truck driver's chest. "Leave. Now."
"Bill?" Bobby Singer's voice bounced around the yard. "Bill Gardner, is that you?"
Dean took a step back, watching Bobby. The demon behind Dean cleared her throat.
"Bobby, you got this?" Dean asked, gesturing to the tow truck.
"He's a colleague. I'll handle it," Bobby said as he stepped through the front door.
Ruby kept her borrowed body between Sam and the demon after him. She watched Dean approach her old mistress. The air felt charged with electricity. The closer Dean came to the demon, the more the hairs on her arms and neck stiffened. She didn't know if it was the charge in the air, or pure anticipation.
Dean was in a seriously pissy mood, not that he'd admit it, at least not in those words. First the dog, his frigging dog (and wasn't that just a kick in the ass?), felt so left out she jumped through a window in order to stake out his car all night. Stupid mutt was lucky she didn't cut a major artery and bleed out. Now he owed Bobby a new window and a new dog. Then there was his brother, the demon magnet, talking deals with demons behind his back. Sam was about to be put on trial in an angel court and Dean honestly didn't know if he could protect Sam from the outcome. Bela was after his amulet. A demon named Ruby, who had some freaky personal interest in Sam, was standing about a foot from his little brother right now, and another demon just arrived. Feeling seriously pissy, Dean decided.
"Can I help you?" he demanded of the woman. He could see the horror of the woman being possessed, and the demon writhing just below the surface. It stretched, trying to get a better look at him. Dean gave her a smile, wondering what she might make of him.
"I'm looking for Sam Winchester," she said, her eyes darting behind him to Sam. Bold bitch.
"He's not available," Dean said as pleasantly as he could, despite the fact he wanted to rip her right out of the body she wore and send her straight to hell, do not pass Go, do not collect a hundred dollars. "Will I do?"
The demon snarled at him from within the possessed woman. He broadened his smile though his irritation doubled. There was no warning when the first lightning bolt struck, causing a cascade of sparks to his left, just behind her. He felt the next one coming and let it fly, encouraging it to strike anything it didn't like. Lightning rained down on Bobby's place, Dean making certain nothing actually struck the house. Lots of stuff out in the salvage yard had an electrical overload with sparks shooting out everywhere, like the Fourth of July.
Awesome.
Dean brushed charred bits off his shoulders and sleeves. The demon's black eyes narrowed on him. "What are you?" she demanded.
"The last thing you're gonna see topside, bitch." Dean grinned at her. "Oh, by the way..." He leaned in real close. "Christo."
This close it worked more on the actual demon than the host. He felt the word slam into the demon, temporarily dislodging her from the woman but only for a split second. It was more than enough. Exorcism rituals he used to just be able to read, not understand, appeared in his mind's eye and flowed from his lips as if he were Sam. He guessed they had a little more punch coming from him these days though, because the demon shrieked painfully, shattering car windows as it was forced from the woman. He watched it try to cling to human flesh, causing rips and tears in internal organs. Dean sped up his recitation, forcing it to retreat faster. The woman collapsed into his arms as black demon smoke swirled straight down through the hard ground.
"Mike!" he shouted at the sky, lowering the woman to the ground. "Mike, I need you!"