Author's note: Trigger warnings ahead for a darker chapter with severe moments
Taylor felt like he was falling through the air and sinking through peanut butter at the same time. He felt his heart beating which he thought was a good thing. Had it not been beating, he would be in bad shape. He vaguely remembered something happening but everything was fuzzy. He tried to connect with Kate but he couldn't even focus to connect his own thoughts in his own head.
The creature had taken Taylor from the house after he lost consciousness. The creature had a master and was unsure what to do with Taylor.
The master opened Taylor's eyes and shined a light in them. "He is a child."
"Not a human one." The creature said.
Taylor heard voices. He couldn't understand them though. He started to form complete thoughts and knew he was in serious danger.
After John missed the call from Taylor, he had sent him a text message. The message went unanswered. He was about to step outside when his phone rang. "Hello?"
"Dad? I got a thought from Taylor. I think he's in trouble." Kate said.
John excused himself and ran outside. "What did he say?"
"He just said he needed you... I think... He sounded mumbled." Kate said.
John looked up and down the street. There was no sign of anything being wrong. That made him more concerned. What if something had grabbed Taylor? Taylor was inside. No, he walked outside to look around the house.
Kate chewed her thumbnail. "Dad?"
"Can you get a read on him?" John asked.
Kate tried. "No."
Dean put an arm around her. He pulled her head to his chest. They were at the lab when Kate had gotten the message. Dean managed to get her out to the car so that she could call John. "I can start driving."
John stopped himself. He tried to think like Taylor. Which way would he have gone? He had an awful feeling. He would have heard if there was a fight. Taylor could have gotten a clear message out during a fight. He swallowed. "Get here, now."
Dean started to crank the car.
"No, Dean. Now." John said.
Kate moved them to be a block away from John. She had a death grip on Dean's arm. She still couldn't get a read on Taylor and that terrified her.
John ran around the block and found them. "Can you talk to him?"
Kate shook her head.
John looked around. "You two go that way. I'll go this way."
Dean and Kate walked down the road, keeping an eye out for any sign of Taylor.
John went the opposite way. He shoved his fear down and went into hunter mode. He asked people if they had seen someone by Taylor's description and finally found someone that had seen him walking down a nearby street. John made a beeline for that street. He walked by a house and stopped. The door was ajar. He slowly opened the door, his weapon poised to fire. The living room was a disaster. There was clearly a fight. He called Dean with the address.
Dean and Kate sprinted over.
John heard them coming in the door and held his hand out. In the hallway, there was blood. There was a lot of blood. Was it Taylor's? "Dean, come here. Kate, stay over there."
Kate knew Taylor had been in the house. She could feel it. "He was here, dad."
Dean looked over John's shoulder. He felt sick to his stomach. He stepped around a small pool and shined a light on a set of handprints.
John looked Dean in the eye. They were both on the same tract.
Dean held his hand out over one of the handprints. It was slightly smaller than his own. He followed a trail of blood through the hallway and out another door, then it ended. He wanted more than anything to think that Taylor ended the creature and drug it outside. That didn't make sense though.
Kate stayed exactly where John told her to. They were quiet. That was bad. She tried to get a read on Taylor again and got a weak link. "Dad! I think I can read him."
John and Dean walked over to her. "Where is he?"
"I don't know. It isn't like normal. It is kind of like emf with ghosts." She thought about what she said and frowned deeply. "I mean... I can feel that he is around but not well enough to know where."
John looked all over the house. He didn't know whose house it was.
A woman pulled into the driveway and saw that the door was open. "Excuse me. What are you doing?"
Dean swore silently. The last thing they needed was for the owner to think they had murdered someone in the house."
Kate lept into action, letting out a stream of tears. "I was walking my dog and he got away from me. I thought he ran into this house because the door was open. Then I saw inside and called my dad."
The woman tentatively stepped inside.
John stood in front of the hallway. "Ma'am, I wouldn't go in there. Something terrible has happened."
The woman looked around him and paled. "Oh my god."
"I don't know what happened here. I'm just looking for my daughter's dog." John said.
The woman called the police. She was in shock.
That worked for their needs.
Kate sniffled. "Can we please find him?" As far as the woman knew, she meant the dog.
John put a hand on her shoulder. "We are going to continue looking for the dog. Uh, if the police need anything, we will be around."
The woman waved him off, more concerned with the mess than the fictional dog.
Kate kept trying to get through to Taylor. He was somewhere. They just needed to find him.
John tried to piece it together. Taylor was armed to fight against a shapeshifter. If the blood was from the creature, it was possible that the silver did nothing. He forced himself to focus and not panic. "I was questioning a widow about her husband's death. There have been weird things happening. One guy got killed by his long-dead girlfriend. Everything points to shapeshifter but something feels off."
Taylor very slowly regained enough consciousness to listen to his surroundings. He hurt. He knew that what he fought with wasn't a shapeshifter. He had no idea what it was. He tried to think of creatures that poisoned people. Was it a djinn? If it was a djinn, why wasn't he trapped in a happy dream?
"What do we do with him?"
"Find out what he is."
"He does not die as a normal human. He does not react to holy water or salt. His wounds do not burn with iron or silver."
Taylor figured that was why he was in pain.
"He heals."
He felt something dig into his arm.
Kate felt a surge of something and whipped her head around. It was not easy to process. She tried to push into Taylor's head again and felt like she was starting to crack through the wall.
Taylor could feel pressure in his head. He could hear a faint whisper. 'Kate'.
Kate grabbed Dean. "He said Kate."
"That is it?" John asked. "Where is he?"
"He doesn't know. He can't open his eyes but he hears voices." Kate said.
"What does he hear? Can you push into his head and see and hear what he is?" John asked.
Kate told Taylor to relax. She got into his head. She couldn't see anything but she could hear the voices. She snapped out of his head, white-faced.
"What?" Dean asked.
"There are at least two voices. One is going through a list of ideas to try to figure out what he is." Kate said. She pushed back into his head and finally heard an identifiable sound. "Church bells."
John looked around. There were two churches in town but only one with bells. That gave them an end of town but not a house or block. He pulled out the map that had the areas marked off where people had died. The center was a few blocks from the church.
Kate lost her connection with Taylor. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't get anything.
Dean urged her to keep walking. "Talk to me."
Kate shook her head. "It went dark, Dean."
Dean squeezed her hand. "We will find him."
John was a man on a mission, his instincts kicking in. He needed to find Taylor before it was too late. The amount of blood in the house sent chills up his spine. If it was anyone else, he would admit that they were looking for a body. It was Taylor though and he wouldn't think that until he had proof. No, Taylor was a Nephilian. That made his chances of survival better. The longer they searched, the more his chest hurt.
Dean stopped walking. He saw a white cat with red on its paws.
Kate saw it too. She crouched down. She scratched the cat on the top of its head and looked at the collar. "It lives a few houses down."
Dean felt sicker. He alerted John.
John stared at the cat's paws. It was a possible clue but not one he wanted. "Since we do not know what we are dealing with, I assume that both of you will follow my orders."
"Yes sir," Kate said as Dean did.
As they followed the cat's prints, they brainstormed what the creature could be. They had video proof that the creature could shapeshift. It didn't just make the victim hallucinate.
John thought about motive and what the victims had in common.
Kate had the benefit of being able to siphon information from others' heads. She sucked in a huge breath of air. "Qareen!"
John felt like an idiot for not putting it together. There was one woman that kept popping up. If she was able to summon and bind a qareen, that would explain everything. A qareen was like a genie. Once bound, it did its owners biding. The only way to kill it was to stab it in its heart but the heart wasn't in the body. Taylor stood no chance if he didn't know what he was fighting.
Kate still couldn't connect with Taylor. She needed to rely on something else. "Be quiet."
John blinked. "Excuse me?"
Kate's eyes widened. "My hearing keeps having moments of being sensitive. I was going to see if I could hear anything."
John nodded and stopped moving and talking.
Kate could hear a dog barking and a few cars passing. She heard kids playing and two men chatting. She needed to focus more. Finally, she heard a woman's voice. "There. That house."
John sent Dean around the other side of the house. Nothing could be seen from the outside.
The woman in the house heard the doorbell ring. "Keep him quiet." She straightened herself and answered the door.
Kate was disheveled. "I lost my dog and he ran this way."
As planned, Dean jerked Kate back and John busted through the door.
Kate slid down the wall and sat right outside the door as Dean ran in. She was supposed to wait for a signal. She got onto her knees so that she could move if needed.
John pinned the woman against the wall. "Where's my son?"
The woman gasped. She was caught off guard but soon, her qareen took over.
Dean dodged a hit from the qareen, knowing that they moved quickly and hit hard.
The scuffle continued. John knew that the only way it would end is if they found the heart. He couldn't turn his back on Dean. He had the woman in his sights.
Kate got her signal and quietly entered the house. She stayed close to the walls and looked for a box that could contain a heart. That was how the woman trapped the qareen. She did a spell and kept its heart. Once the qareen was done killing others, it would turn on the woman. That would be poetic but it had its sights set on Dean and John and Kate wasn't going to let them die. She stopped in the middle of a room and put her hands on the sides of her head. If she could see magic on Mary's papers, she could probably see bits of magic in other places. She opened her eyes and saw a soft glow from a drawer. She slowly opened it and found a box inside. She opened the box and found a black heart.
The qareen appeared and rushed Kate.
Kate acted quickly and stabbed the heart, causing both the heart and the qareen to burst into light.
Dean scrambled. He ran into the room Kate was in just as the light hit its peak and then fizzled out. He grabbed Kate. "Are you okay? Did she get to you?"
Kate felt shaky. "Taylor."
Dean picked her up and carried her.
John tried to question the woman as to where Taylor was.
The woman wouldn't talk.
Kate heard her voice and got out of Dean's arms. She stayed right with Dean but wanted to snap.
The woman looked at Kate. "You're one of them too."
Kate stiffened. "I'd answer his questions. He's not the most patient person."
The woman flicked her hand, causing them to feel as though they had swallowed razor blades.
Dean really hated witches.
Kate's eyes flashed blue and a wave of energy knocked the woman into the wall. She turned her head. "Dean, hex bag, under the couch."
Dean got the bag and burned it, causing the pain to stop.
Kate kept the woman pinned. "Where is my brother?"
The woman choked. "What are you?"
"Pissed off." Kate ground out.
(Sam and Jess earlier)
The drive to Marie and Rod's house was only a couple of hours.
Krissy was excited to see her dad but was nervous about having to go in a car with people she didn't know well.
Sam parked and opened his door, immediately greeted by dogs.
Jess got out too and scratched as many heads as she could before giving up and pulling her bag from the car.
Marie waved from the porch.
Sam could already smell food and looked forward to dinner.
Rod heard the dogs bark and walked up to the house with Krissy.
Krissy was shy at first but quickly got comfortable with Jess.
Sam was finishing his dinner when he got a phone call from Dean. He stepped out of the room to take the call. "Hey, we made it over here." He paused. "What do you mean Taylor is missing? Are you with dad? Tell Kate to pull me and I'll help."
Dean was walking down the sidewalk with Kate and John. "Just be on standby."
Sam waved Rod over. He explained what was going on.
"Uh, I'll call you back. We found something."
Sam heard the phone beep, letting him know that Dean had hung up. To anyone else, Dean sounded calm. To Sam, he sounded terrified. "He will call me back."
Rod didn't tell Marie right away, hopeful that they'd find him and Marie wouldn't have to fret. Hours ticked by without a callback and he eventually told her.
Marie couldn't fathom losing Taylor. He was the light of her life. No, John would find him. He would be okay.
(John, Dean and Kate)
Dean crawled across the floor and found the hex bag. He lit it on fire and gasped when the pain faded.
John got to his feet. "Where is he?"
The witch tried another spell by muttering the words.
Kate held out both hands, creating a shield around the witch. She closed her eyes.
The witch fell victim to her own terrible incantation and fell to the floor.
John touched Kate's shoulder. "Turn around. It's over."
Dean wondered when Kate got that ability. Hell, when did she get heat-seeking-missile-level hex bag finding skills?
Kate looked up at John. "Dad, I can't read him."
John told Kate to stick with Dean and split up to search the house. He opened door after door and saw no sign that Taylor was there.
Dean had Kate stand behind him, unsure what they would find if they found anything.
John opened a basement door and descended the steps. He found the light switch and turned it on. "Dean!"
Dean heard John yell and grabbed Kate's hand, nearly dragging her with him. He ran down the steps and froze.
John felt for a pulse but didn't feel one. He brought the side of his fist down on Taylor's chest to shock his system and tried to rouse him.
Kate tore her hand away from Dean and knelt beside Tayor. She put her hands on his face and transferred some of her grace to him. She sat back and took his hand in hers. She started to feel off. She looked at John but there were two... no three of him. "Dad?"
John startled. "Kate, what is wrong?"
Kate closed her eyes and then opened them again. "I feel funny."
Dean caught her before she fell over.
Kate couldn't help giggling. "Something is on his skin."
Neither Dean nor John was reacting like that.
John picked Taylor up and carried him up the stairs, followed by Dean and a seemingly very high Kate. He used a cloth from the kitchen and wiped Kate's hands off. He wiped Taylor's face and arms and felt his pulse again. Much stronger.
Dean held Kate's head to his chest, a little concerned that she'd float away if he didn't hold her down.
Kate started to see traces of what happened. She stiffened and let tears fall.
Dean felt the change. "Talk to me, kiddo."
"I think the qareen poisoned him by touch. I guess normal people don't react." Kate said.
John listened to Taylor's heartbeat. It was getting stronger. He was still unconscious.
"We've got to get out of here," Dean said.
John looked outside. Dean was right. He could hear sirens in the distance.
"I can teleport," Kate said.
Dean squeezed her. "No, you can't. You'll teleport us into the sun."
John carried Taylor outside. "Stay here with them. I'll get the truck."
There was a stand of trees, enough to give them cover for a little while. Dean sat Kate down. "Stay." He turned to John and held his arms out.
John just looked at him.
"You've got to let go if you want me to take him." Dean said.
John blinked. "Right." He relinquished Taylor to Dean and felt of his pulse one more time. He turned to go back to his truck, making incredible time in getting there. He cranked it and whipped it into reverse, making a beeline for his children.
Kate was almost back to normal as John pulled up. She looked at Taylor and started getting emotional again.
Dean lifted Taylor into the truck and turned around for Kate. "I've got ya. Come on." He put her in the backseat with Taylor. He wanted to be hands-on but Kate could actually heal Taylor.
John looked at a map and got his bearings. There was a hunter's cabin within an hour's drive. He got onto the main road and made the drive in 45 minutes.
Taylor started to wake more. He opened his eyes. He didn't know where he was at first. He met eyes with Kate and tried to sit up.
Kate supported his head.
John opened the back door and helped Kate out. He pulled Taylor's shoulders and got an arm under his knees.
Taylor tried to say he could walk but his mouth was full of cotton. Truth be told, he didn't mind. When he was in that basement, in and out of it, he wanted nothing more than John to bust in and save the day.
There was a simple sofa in the one-room cabin. John put Taylor on it.
Taylor stirred and moved his foot toward the floor.
John picked his ankle up and tossed it back next to his other one. "Do not move. Do not try to sit up. Stay."
Taylor froze. He was too weak to move but after that order, he wasn't going to even twitch.
Dean helped get Taylor situated.
John used the first aid kit to give him a once-over.
Kate assisted, being completely sober by then.
John stepped back and rubbed his face. He was being bombarded by a complex web of emotions. Terror had turned to relief and then back to terror. Taylor was okay. His eyes were open. His heart was beating. "I'm going to get food."
Dean knew that John needed a minute to process things. He helped Taylor sit up and drink a few sips of water. He cringed at Taylor's clothes. There was blood. He wasn't sure if it was Taylor's or the qareen's. Judging by how firmly his shirt was attached to his stomach made Dean think that there had been an abdominal wound. He dug around in Taylor's duffle and found a clean set of clothes. He all but carried him to the bathroom and helped peel his shirt off.
Taylor hissed. "I can do it."
Dean ignored him. He turned the shower on and helped Taylor sit on the floor, letting the warm water wash some of the grime away. He told Taylor to undo his jeans.
"I can handle this." Taylor said.
Dean crouched down. "Leave your underwear on. Get your jeans off."
Taylor groaned but did as Dean told him to do. The warm water eased his pain and the wet jeans were uncomfortable.
Dean got Taylor looking clean again. He shut the water off and toweled his hair.
Taylor was getting stronger and feeling embarrassed. "Dean, I've got it."
Dean shook his head. He closed his eyes but kept a hold on Taylor's shoulders.
Taylor froze. "No, I can change by myself."
"Taylor, if I let you fall dad will beat my ass and I, for one, am not looking for an ass beating. So, suck it up. My eyes are clothes. Your dignity is intact. So get it done before I do it for you."
Taylor blushed. He finished toweling off and changed into dry underwear and shorts. He announced that he was done and was grateful when Dean let him sit to put his t shirt on by himself.
Kate was pleased to see Taylor looking like Taylor. Washing off the toxin likely helped him regain his strength.
Dean kept a hold on Taylor and lowered him to the couch. He moved a pillow to the arm of the couch and told Taylor to lay back.
Taylor didn't lay back. "Dean, I'm okay."
Dean stared at Taylor. "What the hell happened?"
Taylor took a glass of water and sipped it as he explained everything.
Dean blinked slowly. He could see Taylor was still weak. "Lay back. Put your feet up."
Taylor groaned. "I'm fine now." He tried to stand up.
Dean shoved him back down. "No, you aren't fine. Dammit Taylor. You went missing. Dad didn't know where you were. He couldn't find a trail. He couldn't get ahold of you. He had no leads to tell him where to look. He called us in and had Kate zap us here. Then, she couldn't get a read on you. We found the first house and a shit ton of blood. Do you know what that did to us? Kate got bits of readings from you and we got damn lucky to find the house you were in. By that time, Kate couldn't even feel you in the same house. I know dad. He wasn't expecting to find you. He was expecting to find a body. Then, when he saw you, he couldn't feel a pulse. He is getting food, sure but he is trying to hold himself together because, while he typically isn't afraid of anything, seeing one of us in danger or not knowing if we are okay, terrifies him. So I'm thrilled you are getting your strength back and healing but you are not okay. When dad realizes that all of this was because of your own stupidity you are going to be very far from okay."
Taylor shrunk. His face turned red and then white. He disobeyed an order. He broke protocol. More than that, he put himself in that situation. It wasn't a knee-jerk, call in a hound to save the day, decision. He got cocky. "Oh god."
"Yeah. Oh god is right." Dean softened and sat beside Taylor. "You scared the shit out of him. You scared all of us." He palmed his forehead. "Kate, let Sam know he is safe. Taylor, I don't envy you. If I didn't think dad was going to skin your ass, I'd be skinning you right now. I'm glad you're okay. When he gets back, you aren't going to argue with him. If he raises his voice, just deal with it. He is going to be up and down because of how he found you. If he hugs you, do not tense up. Do not pretend that you are too old for hugs. Do not act like you are too cool for it. Embrace the damn hug."
Taylor furrowed his brows. "You know, the hugs were not the part I thought you were going to give me the warning for."
Dean smirked. "I think you have a good grasp on the other stuff."
Taylor whimpered. He got what Dean meant. He'd normally avoid hugs and get embarrassed.
John returned with food and clarity. He passed out burgers and sat back in an available chair. He gave Taylor a few minutes to start eating and then asked for details on what happened.
Taylor didn't want to talk about it. He had already told Dean most of it but the guilt was already shredding him. He wondered why John was asking him with Kate around but he figured that John thought he needed a buffer. He did. He needed a human shield. He didn't know where to start but knew downplaying it would not end well. He chewed his bite of food and made eye contact with John. "I checked the house and around the outside. I was standing outside looking around when I saw someone go by that had weird eyes. I guess we can detect a retinal flare like a camera can. I called you but I didn't get an answer."
"I texted you immediately after I declined the call," John said.
Taylor blanched. "Uh, I didn't know. I followed the person because I didn't think we could find it again if I lost track of it. It went into one house but came right back out. In the second house, I heard a woman scream and rushed in."
John nodded. "What happened to the woman?"
Taylor didn't know. "I told her to run."
"Well, the owner came home as we were inside trying to find you." John said.
Taylor swallowed another bite of food.
"What did this woman look like?" John asked.
Taylor tried to remember. "Uh, she was wearing an orange skirt."
John nodded again. "The witch that bound the qareen was also wearing an orange skirt. Now, maybe she had a hit out on the owner. Maybe they realized you were following them and set up a trap. I guess we will never know."
Taylor squirmed. "What is a qareen?"
"It shapeshifts but you can't kill it with a silver knife. A person has to bind it to do their bidding. It is a little like a genie and can take on the form of anyone or anything." John said.
Taylor was working to piece together what he could remember. It all happened so fast. "I found out it wasn't a shifter but I didn't know what it was."
"How did you find that out?" John asked.
Kate traded looks with Dean.
"Uh, I stabbed it in the chest." Taylor said.
"Lot of good that did. The heart was in a box. Kate found it and destroyed it which destroyed the qareen." John said.
Taylor looked at Kate. "Thanks."
"From what we can figure, the qareen is toxic to you and Kate. She touched you and started getting high."
Taylor remembered feeling like he was on acid. "Before everything went dark, it was hard to move and the world was kind of wobbly."
"Dean and I had no effects but it did a number on you two." John said.
Taylor felt so incredibly stupid. "I couldn't do anything after that."
"Seems like they weren't sure what you were. They did a couple tests to try to take you out but none of it seemed to work, thankfully." John added.
Taylor had fuzzy memories of being in pain and hearing the women talking.
John sat forward in his chair. He studied Taylor. He was so grateful that he was sitting upright and talking like nothing had happened. However, he was frustrated. "Why did you leave the house?"
Taylor looked at the floor. "To follow them."
"Why didn't you look for a message?" John asked.
Taylor had no answer for that.
"We have a protocol for a reason. Had you given me a chance to get out there, I would have gone with you. You didn't even send a message letting me know which way you went. When I got a call from Kate saying something was wrong, I had no idea where you were. I had no idea if a demon swooped in. You left me nothing. You do not go against orders. It is as simple as that. Then, if something changes, you communicate." John said.
Taylor shrunk.
John stood up, tossing his wrappers into a bag. He cleared his throat. "Dean, a minute."
Dean got up and walked to the far side of the room with John. "Uh, do you want me to get him back to Bobby's?"
John shook his head. "No, he is not being let out of my sight. When I'm through with him we are going to go look for Jo." His voice got louder. "Because none of you can stay out of the goddammed fire. Lord knows what mess she's gotten herself into."
Taylor snapped his head up. "Jo?"
"I got a call from Ellen on the way back over here. She split again. You are going with me to track her down." John said.
Taylor's heart skipped a beat.
"Dean, you and Kate will go back to Sioux Falls." John said.
Kate squeezed Taylor's hand. She felt bad leaving him but he did it to himself. Seeing the state he was in would be an image that was permanently burned into her memory. She walked over to John. "Can I?"
John felt the aches leave his shoulders and his mind clear. "What did you do?"
Kate gave him a sheepish grin. "Got rid of your fatigue. If you're going to be driving all night to find Jo, I thought you wouldn't want to be sleepy. Besides, you're less grumpy when you aren't tired and it may help Taylor a little."
John snorted and gave her a half-hearted swat. "You let me worry about Taylor." He hugged her. "You did good. Thank you."
Taylor felt very aware of the situation once Kate and Dean were gone. No more human shields. Just him and an upset John.
"Are you done eating?"
"Yes, sir."
John paced for a moment. "Do you understand how close you came to dying?"
"Yes, sir." Taylor said.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" John asked.
Taylor wanted to make excuses. "I ran into the house because I thought someone was hurt."
John knew he couldn't claim that he wouldn't do the same thing. He always had. That was the only part of the ordeal that made a lick of sense. When Taylor messed with Craig, went after David or even, when he snuck off to that party, there was part of him that could understand. Leaving the house wasn't a choice made out of anger or desperation. "Did you get cocky?"
Taylor looked at his hands. "Yes, sir."
John told him to stand up. He yanked him into a hug and held him there for a few minutes.
Taylor wasn't sure if John was mad enough that he was trying to strangle him or if he really needed to be sure he was okay. It was probably a mix of both.
John finally let Taylor go and held him at arm's length. "You messed up."
Taylor nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."
John pinched the bridge of his nose. "We need to track your sister down. That is going to be one hell of a drive. Get over the back of the couch and let's get this over with."
Taylor tensed. "I'm still kind of reeling from all of this."
"You can reel while getting your hide tanned." John said.
Taylor groaned. He felt fine, aside from every fiber of his being wanting to head out the door. He expected John to yell. He didn't expect calm John. Calm John was scary.
John took Taylor's arm and walked him around the couch. He gave him another suffocating hug and then turned him around.
Taylor winced. He bent over and put his palms on the seat of the couch. With all of the hugs, he felt like a prized sheep set for slaughter. Prized sheep died a quick death. They didn't get their backside flayed for doing stupid things. Oh to be a thoughtless sheep that didn't make poor life choices.
John unthreaded his belt. He put a hand on Taylor's back. "I am glad you're okay now but this will not happen again."
Taylor didn't get a chance to comment before he felt like he had been scalded. He flinched and sucked in a breath of air.
John didn't give Taylor a chance to recover between lashes, quickly working from the middle of his butt down to the middle of his thighs.
Taylor tried to count but couldn't. He hissed through his teeth and fought to stay where he was. He let tears fall, partially from the damned belt dancing across his backside and mostly due to the guilt.
John gave Taylor a minute. "I never want to see you like that again. I thought we lost you for good." His voice cracked. He lifted the edge of Taylor's shorts to make sure he wasn't welting the kid. "How old are you?"
Taylor stiffened. "Thirteen." He twisted and looked at John.
"This is one of those times you went above and beyond." John said. "You disobeyed an order. You put yourself in danger. You went after something alone. The list is long, Taylor. I can't say it enough, had you waited, this wouldn't have happened. I know it was scary for you but you got cocky. I'm making sure that cockiness doesn't stick around."
Taylor turned back around. He had done all of those things. He knew when he was doing them that he was being dumb but being a teenager was hard. Any teenager would be a dumbass if they had superpowers.
John tapped Taylor with the belt to give him a warning. He got back to the task at hand and worked back down from where he started. The second set of licks wasn't hard. They stung over the first set but Taylor would live.
Taylor could tell John wasn't adding his normal amount of force but it still sucked. He let himself cry and melted into the couch.
John made the last three memorable and slipped his belt back on. He pulled Taylor up and was surprised that the teen didn't tense up when he wrapped his arms around him.
Taylor was so happy to be up but also happy to be alive. He returned the hug and stayed that way until he was able to calm down.
John gave him some water and a cloth for his face. "No more being cocky. Dean is bad enough to cover all of us."
Taylor wiped his face. He remembered quite a few of cocky Dean stories. He blew his nose and took a deep breath.
"Use the restroom. Do what you need to do and then we will hit the road."
Taylor's eyes widened.
"We need to find Jo. I think that long drive will do you some good." John said.
Taylor silently cursed Jo for her poor timing. He absentmindedly rubbed at the seat of his shorts. He went to the bathroom and checked himself. He was annoyed that there was just a bright red hue. He walked out, wiping his hands on his shorts.
"Are you okay?" John asked.
Taylor knew that the question was multilayered. "How can a whipping hurt that bad and not bruise?"
"I know what I'm doing." John said.
Taylor scoffed.
John put a hand on his head. "I'm asking if you are okay."
"I am. Thanks for finding me." Taylor said.
John dropped his hand to Taylor's shoulder and walked him out to the truck. "Now we need to find Jo."
Taylor looked at the seat with detest.
"It is late. Catch a nap in the backseat." John said.
Taylor sighed in relief. He didn't think he would be able to sit after what had just happened.
"Let Dean or Kate know you're fine." John said.
Taylor grimaced. "Fine isn't what I'd claim to be."
John turned and looked at Taylor over the backseat. "You're fine."
Taylor messaged Dean and then messaged Jo. Maybe she would message back. When she didn't he sent a second message. Please let me know where you are. Don't do anything stupid. The price for having your butt pulled out of hot water isn't worth it. Trust me!