Dean, Ben and Lisa had moved to Battle Creek, Michigan into a house for rent. Dean just didn't feel safe keeping them at the house back in Indiana. If one monster had been able to find them there, there was no telling what other creatures would come knocking. Despite promises that they would go out for lunch and scope the neighborhood, Dean ended up buying pizza and they ate in. He didn't admit it to himself, but he was turning into his father more and more every day. Keeping Lisa and Ben on lockdown, claiming it was just temporary… It was exactly what John had told him and Sam growing up.
He found Ben in the garage after lunch, the trunk of the Impala open and a sawed-off in Ben's hands. "What the hell? Hey, hey, give me that," Dean snatched the gun from him, putting it back into the trunk and slamming it shut. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded. "I just wanted to see it," Ben defended himself. "Listen to me. Don't ever open this trunk. Do you understand me?" Ben took a couple steps back from him, nodding guiltily. "Okay, sorry. But I don't get it. You had your own rifle when you were my age." That comment hurt. Didn't Ben realize that that was the exact reason he refused to let him have a gun? "Ben, mark my words. You will never, ever shoot a gun, ever."
"I know what's going on," the young boy claimed. "You think something might be coming for us." Dean shook his head, "There's nothing coming for us." He could tell Ben didn't believe him. "I could do what you do. You could teach me how to shoot-"
"Shut up about the freaking gun, okay!"
Ben flinched, looking down at his feet. "Okay. Sorry. I'm sorry." As he retreated out of the garage, Dean covered the trunk with the tarp again, then hung his head, breathing deeply. He hadn't even taught Mack how to 'do what he did', as Ben had put it. So determined was he not to turn into John Winchester, that he refused to put that responsibility on his own kid. Now, despite refusing to do the same with a kid who wasn't even his but felt more and more like it every day, he felt more like his father than ever.
Lisa came and found him still in the garage several hours later, sorting through boxes. "Hey," he greeted her. "What happened? Ben's been locked in his room for hours. Says you yelled at him. What happened?" He could tell by the look in her eyes she was remembering the way he'd blown up and threatened Ben back in September. He kept thinking about that moment, too. "Nothing," he said dismissively. "What did he do?" she pressed. "He got into my tools. I shouldn't have got mad." Lisa frowned, "You want to talk about this?"
"About?" he raised an eyebrow. "Yelling at Ben? Keeping us in the house?" No. He really didn't. "I'm trying to keep us safe here." Lisa sighed, "I'm not arguing, okay? You're the expert. I'm just asking. You said you and your brother killed whatever was after us. And then we moved just to be sure! So, what is it, Dean? A monster? Or monsters in general?" Dean shrugged, "I don't know. Something might come."
"What?"
"I don't know, I can't predict what's going to come after me." He could see the frustration growing in Lisa's eyes. "Well, I'm going to need some parameters. We have to live our lives here. I mean, at some point I have to go to work. Ben has school…" Dean nodded, seeing her point. "But if something happens on my watch…" Lisa heard the implied, like what happened to Mack. Despite how much he'd cleaned up his act the past eight months, she knew he was still hurting from that. "I know you're trying to protect us," she told him softly, "but you're kind of scaring me a little, too." She turned on her heel, leaving the garage.
Dean was working on salting all the windows and doors that night when his phone rang. "Sam?" he answered it. "I need your help. Now," Sam informed him. "What's wrong?" Dean was suddenly on the alert. "I'm working this job."
"Dude."
"Look, I just need you with me on this, okay?" Sam snapped. It was quite possibly the most emotion he'd heard Sam use since he walked back into his life. "I'm out. I'm staying out," he protested. "Make an exception," Sam said, tone blasé again. "For what?" he demanded. "Look, I'm thirty minutes away and I will drive to your door if you don't meet me." That was concerning. "And what's so nuts that you gotta threaten a damn driveby?"
"A baby."
Dean's jaw dropped. The next morning, Dean told Lisa the situation and coached her how to load and shoot a handgun. "Okay, show me," he told her. "I've got it. We've been over this," she sighed. "Humor me." She held his hard gaze for a moment, and then did just that. "Load clip. Pull slide. Safety off. Safety on." She demonstrated as she listed the steps. "And salt the windows and doors," he added. "Of course."
"Maybe I shouldn't go," he hesitated, feeling guilty. "It's okay. You want to go, so go," she assured him. "You know what, Sam can handle this," he began to talk himself out of it. "Dean, no offense, but if you don't walk out that door, I'm going to shoot you," Lisa threatened. Dean grabbed his duffel, zipping it closed and slinging it over his shoulder. "I bet you're missing your ex right about now," he joked. "The uh, the boring one?"
"God, shut up," she groaned. "Just be careful, okay?" He grinned, kissing her goodbye before heading out the door. He got in his truck, heading off to meet Sam at the rendezvous point. "Alright, so what do we know about this thing?" he asked his brother. "Well, uh, it was fast and it freaked when I cut it with silver."
"Alright, so that narrows it down to…"
"A ghoul?" Sam suggested. "A zombie, a shifter, or about a dozen other things." Dean frowned, "I don't recall seeing babynapping in the profiles." Sam nodded. "Yeah, exactly." They got into Sam's car, leaving Dean's truck behind temporarily. Dean glanced at the baby as he got into the passenger seat. "Well, feel free to speak up if you know anything," he told it. Sam started the car, and it started making a continual dinging sound. "Seatbelt," he shot at Dean.
"What am I, in third grade?" Dean grumbled, pulling the strap across. "A car should drive, not be a little bitch." The baby cried out and Sam and Dean looked back at it. "Yeah, don't take it personal," Dean quipped, then looked at Sam. "Well, we need to get some supplies." Sam frowned, "I've got an arsenal in the trunk." Dean shook his head, "Not that kind." They drove to the nearest grocery store, gathering stuff for the baby. While they were there, the shifter showed up, trying to take the baby- newly dubbed Bobby John after the shifter asked the brothers his name- from them.
"The hell does a shifter want with a baby anyway?" Dean demanded, trying to get Bobby John strapped into his car seat while Sam drove. "You tell me," Sam replied. "And how the hell did it find us?" Dean added. He was struggling with the buckles on the car seat- it'd been years since he had to deal with one of these. "Who designed these things, NASA?"
"You know, it could have been following me this whole time," Sam suggested. "Since the baby's house." Dean grimaced at that thought. "Alright, you know, we got to get off the road. Get Bobby John here someplace safe. Figure this thing out." Bobby John was still screaming. "Okay, alright, shh, shh. Easy, kid." Sam found a motel for them to hole up in. While he sat at the table doing research, Dean changed Bobby John's diaper on the bed. "Okay, alright, you know what? I'll pay you money if you sit still," he told him. Sam laughed.
"This is like defusing an IED, with poop!" Dean grumbled. This was one part of fatherhood he was glad he had gotten past. He tried not to gag as he finished changing the diaper. "Okay, alright, alright, alright, you are golden, Bobby John. Time to hit the hay." He picked up the child, rocking him as he hummed Smoke on the Water and carried him over to the crib they'd requested when booking the room. "Dean, you're just going to make it cranky again," Sam said.
"Shh, it's working," he whispered, chest clenching as he noted Sam's use of the word 'it' when referencing the child- just like John had done with Mack. And he was right, Bobby John had stopped fussing and had closed his eyes while laying on his shoulder. "Okay, if I put you down, are you gonna be a man about it?" Dean asked, laying him down gently in the crib. Bobby John's eyes fluttered, but he didn't fuss any more, falling asleep. "Huh," Sam mused.
"What?" Dean looked over at him. "You're just, uh, actually not awful at that." Dean frowned. "Dude, not my first rodeo, remember?" The unspoken reference to Mack made Dean's chest feel like he was suffocating again. He was usually able to ignore the crushing weight her absence put on him, especially when he was with Lisa and Ben, but now, with this case… It was just hitting him a little closer to home. He suddenly froze as he noticed the date on a newspaper next to Sam's arm on the table. "Dude, what?" Sam asked, looking at the newspaper in confusion. May 5… "Is that today's newspaper?" Dean asked. "Uh, yeah, why?" May 5… He'd totally forgotten Mack's birthday.
"It's May fifth?" he whispered. "I missed…" Sam's eyebrows shot up as he suddenly understood, though didn't seem too interested otherwise. "Oh, yeah. I guess I'm 28 now, huh?" Yeah… That's the other thing he'd missed. But he didn't really care so much about that part of it. She was seven now. Seven years old, and he had no clue where she was or if she was okay. God, he couldn't handle this. Sam had refocused on the task at hand. "Crap. I can't believe I missed this."
"W-what?" Dean asked, trying to push past his major realization. "The house on Elm. The mother was killed, baby was grabbed, but Daddy wasn't living in the house at the time so he's still alive. What do you say we go have a chat?" Dean nodded, "I say let's." Then they simultaneously remembered the sleeping child and both looked at the crib. "You go," Dean told Sam. "You sure?" Dean nodded, "Unless you've got a badge for Bobby John, yeah, I'm sure." Sam left him alone with the baby, who started to cry again. Dean reached into the crib, picking him up and started bouncing him again.
"You know, I really do try to be a good father," he murmured as Bobby John started to settle back down. "I tried with… with her. I gave her whatever real kid experiences I could while on the road. And I really thought when we started over at Lisa and Ben's that things would be better. But then she ran away, and I knew I'd screwed up so bad. So, I tried to do better, to be better, for Lisa and Ben. But this… moving them around, keeping them on lockdown…"
He let out a breath, laying Bobby John back in the crib. "I'm turning more and more into my dad, and that terrifies me," he finished. Bobby John sighed in his sleep, putting his fist in mouth and sucking on it. Dean went over to the bed, laying down and putting some coins into the magic fingers machine to make the bed vibrate. While he laid there, eyes closed, he suddenly heard a strange noise and Bobby John started crying again. He looked over in surprise, finding blood and skin on the wall over the crib. As he stood up, his phone rang, and he answered it.
"Yeah?" he asked, walking toward the crib. "I talked to the father. He checks out. But the baby…" Dean's eyes widened as he stared down at Bobby John. "Yeah," he said again. "I think the shapeshifter is his dad," Sam said. Dean picked up Bobby John, holding him at arm's length. Instead of the brown haired, fair skinned child he'd been before, he now was dark skinned and looked a lot like the baby on the side of the diaper box. "You think?" Dean asked.
He hung up the phone, trying to calm Bobby John down again. There was a knock at the door. "Manager! Everything okay in there?" a voice called. "Yeah, no, we're fine," Dean called back. "Thank you. Good night." The manager didn't go away. "There's been some complaints. Mind opening the door, sir?" Yes, he would very much mind opening the door. No way could anyone see all the blood and skin on the wall. "It's not a good time. Just got out of the shower," Dean lied. The doorknob rattled and he looked over fearfully.
He laid the still-screaming child back in the crib and went to stand to the side of the door. The door unlocked and instead of the manager, a police officer entered the room. Dean attacked him and they grappled, Dean getting pushed back. "Get out of the way," the officer growled. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Dean countered. "That child should be with his father."
"Wow. I gotta be honest. I'm not really seeing the family resemblance," Dean quipped. The shapeshifter glowered, "I'm not just talking about me. I'm talking about our father." The shifter moved to attack, and Dean punched him, slashing his face with a silver knife. As they continued to fight, Dean was thrown back on the ground. Sam entered, shooting the shifter through the heart, killing him. "Well, there goes our deposit," Dean joked.
They ended up bringing Bobby John to the Campbell's compound, because Sam claimed Samuel would know what to do. When they arrived, Dean clutched Bobby John protectively, unwilling to hand him over to any of the Campbells. Gwen approached him, stroking Bobby John's face. "Well, aren't you just the best disguise a monster ever wore?" she cooed. Dean gave her a death glare. "I'm kidding, Dean. Relax." Mark approached him next. "What, you got something to say?" Dean asked, not getting a response. "No? Alright, well, you stand there and think at me."
Sam and Samuel entered the room together. "What's our next move?" Sam asked. "I got a couple ideas," Samuel said. "Dean, let me see the little guy." He held out his arms for Bobby John, but Dean just drew the baby closer to his chest. "That's alright. I got him," he said, glaring at his grandfather. "What do you think I'm gonna do?" Samuel asked. "You really don't want me to answer that question."
"Well, I'm curious," Christian piped up. "Who exactly do you think we are?" Dean gave him a stern look. "Hunters." Christian smirked, "Funny, here I've been thinking we're family." Sam decided to break up the situation. "Hey, let's not get worked up," he told them. "Yeah, yeah, let's not," Christian said. "Here, Dean, it's fine," Sam addressed his brother. "Let me take him. It's okay." Dean hesitated for a few moments longer, then reluctantly handed him Bobby John. Sam immediately passed him on to Samuel and Dean tensed up.
"Hey there," Samuel said, bouncing Bobby John in his arms. "You're a big fella, aren't ya? Yeah. I haven't held one of these in a long time. Your mom was the tiniest. She was as bald as a cue ball." Dean's jaw was clenched and he was breathing deeply through his nose as he watched Samuel with Bobby John. "Alright, so what the hell are we going to do with him?" he queried. "Raise him," his grandfather answered. "Raise him?"
"What, you've got another suggestion?" Dean couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But…" he started. "It's dangerous out there for him, Dean," Samuel continued matter-of-factly. "And what about in here? What are we gonna- study him? Poke at him?" Christian rolled his eyes. "You're mind goes straight to torture, Dean. Don't assume that for everyone." Dean rounded on his cousin. "What exactly are you trying to say?" he growled. "Sorry, I heard what you majored in down in the pit," Christian said, not sounding sorry at all.
"The hell is your problem, man?" Dean demanded. "You're starting to become a pain in my ass," Christian shot back, getting in Dean's face. "Christian, take it easy, man," Sam mediated. "He's my brother." Samuel watched the entire exchange calmly, still bouncing Bobby John in his arms. "We all done bristling up here, or what? Nobody's gonna do anything to him, Dean. When he's old enough, we throw it to him. He wants to volunteer to help out, that's fine."
"Could be great," Mark took the rare occasion to speak. "How?" Dean snapped. "Think of the kind of hunter he'll grow up to be." Un-be-lievable. These people truly were crazy. "You all are joking, right?" Dean scoffed. "I mean, come on! You can't 'Angelina Jolie' a shapeshifter. Give me the baby." He moved toward Samuel, who took a step back to counteract the motion. "Why can't you give me an inch of trust, Dean?" the old man asked. "Maybe because you two are suddenly back from the dead, and I seem to be the only one who wants to know how the hell that happened!"
"You're not the only one who wants to know," Sam told him quietly. "There's just a little too much mystery with this family for me to get comfy," Dean continued. "Then don't!" Samuel yelled. "But don't pit it on us. All we're trying to do is invite you in. Christian?" Christian straightened up. "Yeah?" Samuel turned to him, "You and Arlene, still no luck on the baby front?" Dean's jaw dropped as Christian shook his head. "Not yet, no." Samuel smiled, "But you want one?"
"Yeah, we do."
Dean was immediately protesting. "Wait, hold on." Samuel looked at him sharply. "It's okay, Dean. It's alright." Samuel handed Bobby John over to Christian. "Congrats. It's a boy, sometimes." Christian laughed, staring down at the child in his arms. "The crap I do for this family." Dean was practically seeing red. "You're kidding me, right?" Christian addressed him without looking away from Bobby John. "Go to hell, Dean." Dean was fuming, hands in fists at his side. "Well, you have no business raising anything."
"Why, Dean?" Sam asked. "Because he's a hunter." Oh, that was a low blow. Before he could form a response, the sound of a dog barking carried in from outside. "Check the backdoor," Samuel ordered. Christian handed Bobby John back to Samuel, who handed him to Dean. "Downstairs, panic room," he told Dean. "He'll be safe there. Go. Forget it, go! Now!" Dean clutched the child in his arms tightly as he and Sam made their way downstairs. The brothers paced the room as they waited.
"Come on, Bobby John, you have to keep quiet," Dean murmured, trying to calm him down. They could hear gunfire coming from upstairs. "It does not sound good up there." Sam looked over at him and the baby. "Alright, I'm going up. Stay with the baby." Sam headed over to the door, spotting the shifter- disguised like him- through the window. Sam pulled out his knife as the shifter pulled the panic room door off its hinges. It easily overpowered Sam, then morphed from Sam into Dean without shedding its skin. "What the…?" Dean asked, backing up as the shifter advanced.
"Give me the baby," the shifter demanded. "No way in hell," Dean shot back. The shifter grabbed him by the neck, raising him up the wall. He took Bobby John with his free hand, choking Dean a moment longer before letting him fall to the floor. He exited the room with Bobby John, still disguised as Dean. When Dean asked Sam and Samuel about it, they said they thought the second shifter was the Alpha- the king shapeshifter that spawned all the others. Dean confronted Sam about using Bobby John as bait for the Alpha, but Sam denied it.
When Dean returned home, Lisa was in the kitchen drying dishes. "Hey," she greeted him. "Hey," he replied. "Where's Ben?" She looked over at him. "Bike ride." She noticed his expression. "What?" He sighed, hesitating. "I don't know what to do here, Lis. I mean, if I knew for sure what the safest thing was, then I'd do it. Stay here and look after you guys or get as far away as I possibly can, but I don't know. And I get what I've been doing lately, you know, what with the yelling and acting like a prison guard. It's just, that's not me. You tell yourself you're not gonna be something, you know? But my dad was exactly like this. All the time. It's scaring the hell out of me."
She put down her rag, turning to face him. "Dean, can I be honest?" He nodded. "Maybe we're safer with you here, maybe gone. I don't know. The one thing I do know is that you're not a construction worker. You're a hunter. And now you know your brother's out there, and things are different. You don't want to be here, Dean." His expression was pained at her words. "Yes, I do," he choked out.
"Okay," she nodded. "Okay, but you also want to be there. I get it. You're white-knuckling it living like this. Like what you are is some bad, awful thing. But you're not. But I'm not going to have this discussion every time you leave. And this is just gonna keep happening, so I need you to go." Tears pricked at Dean's eyes. "I can't lose you and Ben," he protested. "That's not what I'm saying," Lisa shook her head. "You're saying to hit the road."
"Dean, if there's some rule that says this all has to be either/or, how about we break it? Me and Ben will be here, and you can come when you can. Just come in one piece, okay?" He swallowed, voice thick with emotion. "You really think we can pull something like that off?" he asked. "It's worth a shot, right?" He grinned, kissing her hard and then headed out to the garage. He pulled the tarp off the Impala, feeling a glimmer of hope for the first time in a while.