Chapter Nine

"And you fought him off?" asked the detective.

Priestly nodded, his arms still around Tish. "I've had training in martial arts. I saw him through the window, so I went around back to catch him off guard."

"Well, thank God you did," said the detective. "We've been looking for him for a while now."

Trucker stepped out of the back with another cop, handing him a video tape. "And we'll get this back after you make a copy?"

The cop nodded. "Definitely."

"Excuse me," said Noah Miller as he made his way through the cops and into the shop, following by Jeff Kenline. "Please, excuse me. Piper!"

"Oh, Noah!" exclaimed Piper as Noah rushed towards her and embraced her.

"Jen!" said Jeff, also hugging her. "Are you okay? I left as soon as you called."

Jen nodded in his embrace. "I'm okay."

Noah pulled away from Piper, looking her in the eye. "Are you okay? Nobody's…hurt?"

Piper gave him a reassuring look. "Yeah, all of us are fine. Don't worry."

"Oh, thank God," breathed Noah, pulling her back into his arms.

"If we have any further questions, we'll give you a call," said the detective. "I'm glad everyone's okay."

"Thanks," said Trucker, showing him to the front door.

"Have a good night, folks," said the detective as the cops all cleared out.

Zo stood from one of the tables and hugged Trucker again. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"I'll be okay," said Trucker, hugging her tight.

Soon after the fight was over, Trucker had woken up and called the cops. Zo had come running from across the street, worried because of a bad feeling she had gotten. Jen and Piper had then called their fiancé and boyfriend to tell them what had happened. Trucker had suffered a mild concussion, and Tish had a shallow cut on her neck, but luckily, no one had been seriously hurt.

"Everyone's okay, right?" Trucker asked the room.

"I think Tish is still shaky, but yeah," Priestly told him from their seat at a table.

"You okay, angel?" asked Trucker.

Tish nodded slightly. "I mean, I'm still a little freaked, but I'm better."

"I just can't believe this happened," muttered Priestly. "The thought of what that monster could have done to you." He hugged Tish a little closer.

"Well, if it's okay with Noah, I have some news that will cheer us all up," Piper spoke up, looking up at Noah with a questioning smile.

Noah nodded, smiling also. "Sure, why not?"

Piper looked around at everyone else with a brilliant smile. "We're pregnant!"

Cheers and shouts erupted at the news, and everyone stepped forward to congratulate the two.

"So, that's why you've been getting sick lately," said Jen.

"Yeah," nodded Piper.

Priestly frowned. "She's been sick?"

"Don't take it personally, Priestly," Tish told him. "You've been kinda busy lately."

Priestly shrugged. "True." He was so happy to see that Tish looked a little less upset now.

Priestly was so angry with the guy that had barged into the shop. He had come with the intention of hurting the woman he loved. But above all, he had taken Tish's sense of security away. The Grill had been Tish's home away from home, and now, it would only remind her of the fear she had felt. No matter where she went, she would now be burdened with the sense that it could happen again, anywhere and any time.

"How far along are you?" asked Jen.

"About two months," Piper answered.

"How did Julia take it?" asked Priestly.

Noah smiled. "Screamed. She can't wait to shop for the baby."

"She keeps running around telling everyone she's gonna be a big sister," Piper told them.

"Aw, Piper's gonna be a mommy," said Jen.

"Well, technically, I already was," Piper told her.

Noah smiled down at her. "More than once."

Piper smiled back up at him before her gaze fell back down to the others, spotting Sam and John. "Oh, I forgot you hadn't met yet. This is Priestly's brother Sam and their father John. Sam, John, this is my boyfriend Noah."

Noah eased away from Piper and stepped towards the two Winchesters, holding his hand out. "Nice to meet ya."

John shook his hand. "You, too."

Sam shook his hand also as Noah stepped back to Piper.

"And this is my fiancé Jeff," Jen introduced.

Jeff also shook their hands. "Pleasure."

"Okay, now that we're all acquainted, let's head home for the night," suggested Trucker. "We could all use some good rest."

"Good idea," nodded John.

Priestly wrapped an arm around Tish, leading her towards the door and following the others out. "See ya in the morning, Trucker."

Trucker waved at them as he closed the door to lock up.

*************************************************S PN/TIH******************************************** ******

Priestly eased under the covers, turning and pulling Tish to his chest. "You okay?"

Tish clasped onto his hand tightly, and Priestly could feel her suppressed sobs shaking her body.

"Hey," Priestly assured her, pulling her closer. "Hey, I got ya."

Tish's sobs broke free as she turned towards him, burying her face in his chest and clinging to him. "I was so scared."

"Shh…" soothed Priestly.

"He grabbed me…" sobbed Tish. "A-and I couldn't fight him off…"

"Shh, it's over," Priestly told her, stroking her hair. "I got you. It's over."

Tish looked up at him in the near darkness, tears shining in her eyes. "Don't leave me."

"Never," said Priestly, giving her a kiss.

As Tish snuggled back up to his chest, Priestly realized that he was right: he would never leave her…no matter what happened or came at them. Contrary to his recent doubts, he suddenly knew that he would never leave Tish.

**************************************SPN/TIH***** ************************************************** ****************************

Three days later…

Priestly aimed the shotgun into the darkness, eyes wide and alert for anything out of place. He glanced over at Sam, who shared a silent agreement that he didn't see anything either.

John had circled around the back of the library, where the woods crept up to the building, to look for where the body could have been buried. Sam and Priestly had been ordered to search the basement for any spaces or hollow walls the body may have been stuffed. So far, there was no sign of any paranormal activity, and it was setting Priestly on edge.

They came to a corner, and Priestly backed up against the wall right next to the corner. He and Sam nodded at each other, and Sam darted around the corner, aiming his gun that direction. After Sam's nod, Priestly spun around the corner, aiming his gun also. When they saw the coast was clear, they continued on down the hallway until they came to the main storage area.

"Cover me," said Sam, handing his salt gun to Priestly and starting to search the nooks and crannies for any possible place to hide the body.

Priestly tucked Sam's gun into his jacket, facing the rest of the room as Sam searched behind him. Each time Sam moved to a new spot, Priestly would move with him. He never took his eyes off of the room, though; he used his hearing like they taught him to listen for Sam's movements.

They spent almost an hour searching the area before admitting defeat.

"Maybe he wasn't buried here," shrugged Sam.

The door of the storage area slammed closed, drawing their attention.

"Or not," muttered Priestly, shouldering his salt gun once more. He dug into his jacket and tossed Sam his own.

Sam pulled his phone out and dialed their father. "You find anything?"

"Keep it distracted, boys," Priestly heard John's voice on the other line tell him. "I'm almost there."

The phone was suddenly flung out of Sam's hand and across the room, shattering on impact.

"Dammit!" shouted Sam. "I liked that phone!"

Priestly tensed and aimed the gun into the dark room, heart starting to race as the adrenaline pumped.

Oh, man, this is so cool! Priestly thought. We're like the Ghostbusters!

Something latched onto him, and he found himself thrown across the room.

"Dean!" Sam called, shooting a round off.

Groaning, Priestly rolled over to see Sam aiming the gun around the room. A form flickered into being between them, and Priestly's jaw dropped at the sight.

"Holy…" muttered Priestly.

The spirit leveled its gaze at Sam, who went flying.

"Sam!" Priestly called.

The ghost spun around to glare down at Priestly, its pale eyes burning in rage. It raised its decaying hand towards Priestly, who found himself being pulled up the wall by the throat. Keeping a firm grip on his salt gun, Priestly gasped for breath as the spirit loomed closer. Priestly raised the gun and shot a round into the spirit. In a cloudy burst of static, the ghost dispersed in front of his eyes, dropping him from the wall.

Priestly looked down at the salt gun. "Sweet!"

Something hard caught him behind the knees, sending him falling over it to the floor.

Priestly groaned as his legs throbbed with pain along with the shoulder he had landed on. He heard Sam yell out across the room as the spirit went for him next.

"Well, at least we're keeping it distracted," Priestly grumbled.

The next second, he yelled out as something stabbed him in his left thigh just above the knee. He looked down to see a nail sticking out of his leg.

"Aw, son of a—" said Priestly.

"Heads up!" shouted Sam.

Priestly looked up to see the ghost bearing down on him. He glanced around and found his salt gun on the floor ten feet away. Eyes on the ghost, Priestly began pulling himself backwards along the floor towards it. His leg screamed as the movement caused the muscle to pull on the nail.

Halfway there, the ghost suddenly froze in its tracks, dead eyes going wide. It began to glow slightly until it threw its head back and exploded into flames. Priestly stared at the silent room for a moment before collapsing onto the floor, letting out a breath of relief.

"Are they always that close?" Priestly asked Sam about the close call.

"Closer," Sam told him, heading over to him.

Priestly eased up on his elbows, looking up at a bleeding cut on Sam's forehead. "You okay?"

Sam winced down at the nail in Priestly's leg. "Better than you." He put one hand on Priestly's leg and grasped the nail with his other. "Ready?"

"Give me one—" began Priestly.

Sam yanked the nail out of his leg, causing him to shout out.

"—second," gasped Priestly. He looked at the nail in Sam's hand, noticing that it was rusted. "Should I be worried about that?"

Sam glanced half-heartedly at the old nail before tossing it to the side. "No. With our line of work, you never know what you'll be crawling through, so we get our tetanus boosters every few years. We'll just clean it when we get back to the room."

"Awesome," muttered Priestly as Sam pressed his hand to the wound.

"So, how'd you like your first hunt?" asked Sam.

"Well, it wasn't really my first, was it?" smirked Priestly. "I just don't remember the others."

Sam chuckled a little. "You will. I'm sure of it."

"Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting," said Priestly.

"Well, hold on," Sam told him. "This was a piece of cake compared to most hunts."

"And oddly enough, that doesn't turn me off to hunting," said Priestly.

Sam smiled. "I figured." He pulled his hand away from Priestly's leg. "Alright, it looks like it's mostly stopped bleeding…or, gushing, anyway." He got his feet under him. "Come on, let's get you out of here." He grabbed hold of Priestly's arm. "Try not to move that leg."

Priestly clenched his jaw as he pushed himself to his feet with the help of Sam, keeping his left leg as still as possible.

"Good, alright," said Sam, moving Priestly's arm up and around his shoulders.

Together, they hobbled back out of the library and towards the Impala.