John called Dean to let him know he had gotten to the door. "You were right about it not looking like much."
Dean had only recently gotten back from the store. He left the others to sort through the bags as he ran up the stairs. He opened the door and greeted John. "Welcome to the bat cave."
John clapped him on the back and followed him inside. He paused as the door closed.
Dean smirked. "Bat cave, right?"
John was speechless.
Kate ran down the hallway and slid on her socked feet into the library. "Hi!" She waited for them to walk down before she gave John a hug. "Sit. Food is almost done. You can get the tour later."
John raised an eyebrow. "Kate."
Kate stopped in her tracks. "Sorry. I'm excited. Sit down, please, if you want to."
John chuckled and found a chair at the table that took up a large portion of the library. "She seems like she is in a good mood."
Dean rolled his eyes. "She is too cheery."
Kate returned with a small glass with ice and an amber liquid. She sat it on the table. "Bobby told me to give you that."
John held it to his nose and took a deep breath. Whiskey was one of his favorite things. He saw Kate making an odd face from the corner of his eye but took a sip. He let the flavor roll through his tongue and sighed contently.
Kate shifted from foot to foot.
John closed his eyes and took another sip. He opened his eyes when Kate squeaked.
"Well, is it good?" Kate asked.
John nodded. "Probably the best I've had in a very long time."
Kate grinned. "There is a cabinet full of stuff." She watched him drain the glass. "Do you want another one?"
John chuckled. "With dinner." He handed her the glass and sat back in his chair.
Kate retreated from the room and went back to the kitchen.
Dean heard her feet stop moving, the rattle of ice cubes and then a very strained 'bleh.' He laughed. "Kate!" The ice cubes rattled again.
"This stuff is gross." Kate said.
Dean shook his head. "You aren't old enough to drink."
Kate returned to the doorway. She blushed. "Uh, I just wanted to know what it tasted like."
"Now you know." John said with a small smile.
Kate took the glass back to the kitchen and helped Taylor dry plates and forks. She stacked them neatly and carried them back to the library. She tossed a wet cloth to Dean.
"Hey." Dean grumbled.
Kate gave him a sweet smile. "Taylor and I cleaned the kitchen and cooked. Could you wipe down the table?"
Dean scrunched his nose. He quickly wiped the table and distributed the plates.
Taylor showed up with a baking dish and pot holders. "It isn't that much but I didn't expect to have a full kitchen." He smiled at John. "Hi. What do you think so far?"
John looked around. "I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of this place."
Bobby carried drinks in and took his place at the table.
They ate happily. The prospect of all the secrets the bunker held kept spirits high. They had all two full days to explore before they had to make the drive back. When the food was gone, Bobby announced that the kids could show John around while he washed the dishes.
"Come on!" Kate said as she pulled on John's arm.
John finished the last sip of his drink. "You are impatient."
Kate huffed.
John gave her a wink and stood up. "Lead the way."
Kate pointed to one of the rooms. "That is your room for the night. I just chose the ones next to each other for now. There will be clean sheets in a bit. Here is the kitchen and the laundry room." She turned around and grinned. "This is the armory."
John stepped through the door and instantly wanted to get his hands on everything. Some of the things were on display but others were in boxes with the lids on.
"Bobby told us not to touch anything yet. We don't really know who is supposed to own the place of if anything is wired." Kate said.
Taylor took the lead. "Come this way." He opened the door at the end of the hall. "This is a garage."
John felt a flicker of excitement. There were quite a few vehicles that he wouldn't mind getting the keys for.
Kate looked at the paper in her hand. "There is also an infirmary, several storage rooms and a range." She was trying to draw a map of the place but kept finding more rooms. "We haven't looked at everything yet."
John was truly amazed. He wasn't used to finding things that were good. He was almost afraid that there was a catch. He let the kids go on their way and took his time scoping out each room.
Dean went to the armory and started to get a closer look at the weapons. He felt a tingle run through his body at the thought of getting to try them all out. He took a gun from the wall and checked to see if it was loaded. It wasn't but the ammo was nearby. The weapon was clean, aside from the dust that accumulated over 40 years. They could easily touch up the weapons and be on their way. There was no grit or grease to be found. He called out for John.
John heard Dean and followed his voice.
Dean held out the gun. "They kept these things cleaned and ready to go. I thought for sure they'd jam or have some type of dirt. Nope, just dust."
John looked the gun over. "I'm guessing this was some kind of hunter's headquarters. I have never heard of it though."
Kate ventured into a room that looked a bit like an office. She saw pictures on the wall and checked them out. They spanned back a long time, as long as photography had been available, she thought. 'Men of Letters' she said to herself as she read the inscription on a plaque. She assumed that a certain row of photos were taken each year to document who was in the club that year. Everyone was dressed smartly, no flannel to be found. Maybe they weren't hunters or maybe ancient hunters wore suits. She grabbed a chair and scooted it over to the wall with photos. She tiptoed and got a closer look at another row. If Taylor's great grandfather was a member, maybe his name would be with the others that adorned the edges of the framed photos.
Dean picked up a sheathed knife and carefully removed the binding from the handle. He had learned his lesson with the sword in the library that they kept their blades very sharp. He and John were both mesmerized by the array of weaponry.
"We should catalog this stuff." John said.
Dean groaned. "They may already have a catalog."
John shrugged. "Some of this could make a huge difference in hunts."
Dean eyed the grenade launcher.
John followed his eyes. "See, that, that could come in handy."
Dean heard a crash and glass breaking, followed by Kate's yelp. He took off toward her voice and slid into an office to see her sitting on the floor, surrounded by glass and holding a frame. "Kate, are you okay?"
Kate hissed. "Yes." She started picking glass from her legs.
John appeared beside Dean. "What happened?"
Kate blushed. "I was trying to reach a frame and slipped. So those fell and then I fell."
John scooped her up. "I guess we have to test out the infirmary."
"Why didn't you ask for help?" Dean asked.
Kate was slightly in shock. "Uh, I found something interesting."
Dean narrowed his eyes. "How many people are in this building that are taller than you?"
Kate frowned. "Four."
"How long would it take for one of us to help you?" Dean asked.
Kate sighed. "A minute."
John sat her on a table and searched the med bay for supplies. He found several kits that were still sealed. He used tweezers to remove small pieces of glass from her feet and legs. "What was so important?"
Kate winced at as a deep shard was removed from her foot. "Uh, I'm afraid you'll get upset."
John looked up at her. "That you tried to scale a wall of frames?"
Kate felt very small. "I understand if you are upset about that. You can lecture me later."
John gave her a stern look. "Come again?"
Kate quickly turned the frame around and tapped a name at the bottom.
John squinted his eyes to read it and quickly stood and took the frame from her. He walked away to the other side of the room.
"What was it?" Dean asked.
John waved him off.
Kate chewed her fingernails. She let a single tear fall. "I'm sorry."
John walked out of the room and back into the office with the frames.
Dean finished Kate's other foot. "Can you tell me what it was?"
Kate was anxious. "The photo from 1958, one of the members was named Henry Winchester."
Dean suddenly understood John's reaction. "Hey, don't fret. He isn't upset at you."
Kate sniffled. "Am I in trouble for getting hurt?"
Dean put his hand on the side of her face. "How did you fall?"
Kate frowned. "I moved the chair over and tiptoed on it. The frame was just out of my reach so I put my feet on the arms of the chair. One of the arms wiggled and I lost my balance."
"You are an agile person. I'd say it was an accident and if you need anything else, you ask one of us or use a ladder." Dean said.
Kate put her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry I said you were a hard ass."
Dean chuckled. "Sometimes I have to be." He pulled her with him so he could carry her. He took her to the laundry room and used the sink in there to wash her legs and feet off. "Good as new. Go find Taylor and Bobby. I'm going to see what is up with dad."
Kate sighed and did what Dean said.
Dean knocked on the open door of the office. "Do you mind if I come in?"
John looked slightly crazed. "Is she okay?"
"Yep. Right as rain. She is worried about you." Dean said.
John ran his hands down his face. "The son of a bitch left us. He must have came here but where did he go after that? This is the last photo. There is nothing after 1958."
"There are plenty of records here. I'm sure we can find something. So that is him?" Dean asked.
John pointed to which person was his father. "Sure is."
Dean assumed John got most of his looks from his mother. He didn't look much like Henry. Maybe it was the time period or Henry didn't spend his life fighting demons and vamps.
Kate's spirit was slightly crushed. She didn't mean to bring down the mood like that. She saw the last name and reached for the picture, hoping to do some research of her own but now John was trying to piece together why his own father had abandoned him. She was listening to Taylor and Bobby go through books when she heard her name.
Dean heard shuffling as Kate made her way back to the office.
"Yes, sir?" Kate asked.
John gave her a sad smile. "Thank you for finding this. I'm not upset with you. I honestly was not expecting this and I want to know what happened."
Kate nodded. "I was going to look through files."
John sighed. "Maybe you can help me with that."
Dean gave her a shoulder a squeeze and walked out.
John had found a filing cabinet and a folder titled 'enrollment'.
Kate sat on the floor and looked through the file. "They are organized."
John sat at the desk. "Should be easier to find then.
Dean let Bobby know what was going on and that Kate would be working with John. There was no way they'd fully understand what the bunker held in one weekend. "You can't fit all of these books in your office."
Bobby grumbled. "I'm looking for stuff that I don't have. Well I was, but I'm realizing that there is a lot that I don't have. I don't really need books on creatures that we know a lot about. There is an entire stack over there about angels."
Dean leafed through the books. "Is there anything about Nephilim?"
Bobby shrugged. "I didn't see anything at first glance."
Taylor was kneeling, assessing names of books. He saw a glimmer of something from the shadow of the bookshelf and reached toward the book. It was awkwardly situated behind the other books and he wouldn't have seen it had the light not caught the metallic writing. He tried to pull it out but it wouldn't budge easily. He got his fingers behind the book and pulled. He heard a click and jerked his hand back at record speed.
"What was that?" Dean asked.
Taylor asked for a flashlight. He moved books out of the way and looked inside the shelf. "I about lost my fingers."
Dean crouched down. "Why would they rig a book?"
Taylor poked the book with a flashlight. It wiggled and he was able to knock it away from the shelf.
Dean turned the book over. "Nephilim."
Taylor gasped. "That isn't' weird at all." He checked to make sure there were no more traps in the shelf.
Dean carefully opened the book, unsure if it was going to explode in his face. "It is handwritten."
Taylor turned the flashlight off. "Why would they want to chop off someone's hand for reaching for that book?"
Dean handed him the book. "Beats me."
Taylor ran his fingers along the pages. The writing was neat and he wasn't sure what type of ink had been used. "It says that Nephilim are the offspring of human and angel."
Dean scoffed. "Why would an angel bed a human?"
Taylor shrugged. "If an angel wanted to sleep with you, would you turn them down?"
Dean smacked the back of his head. "Shut up."
Taylor continued reading. "Nephilim are incredibly powerful. They are more powerful than an angel because they have a human soul. Human souls are pure energy."
Dean furrowed his brows.
Bobby moved so he could read the book with Taylor.
"It says that Nephilim must be disposed of upon birth because there is no way to kill them once they gain their power." Taylor said. "Wow. Who could kill a baby?"
"I guess an angel." Bobby said. "My book at home said they were hunted."
"A Nephilim birth kills the host." Taylor said, slowly. "I guess Kate and I aren't Nephilim." The book was thin. Not much was known about the creatures. The back of the book had a page ripped from it. There was a faint indention in the back cover. Taylor used a slip of paper and a pencil to create a rubbing of the previous page. "It is letters and numbers."
Bobby looked at it. "It could be a file number."
They went in search of a room that held the appropriate type of files.
"Sam would be in Heaven here." Dean said.
Bobby nodded. "With the way this place is laid out and organized, he would never want to leave. He did feel a bit of sadness that Sam wasn't there to see it all.
"Records." Taylor said as he pointed to the plaque beside a door.
Dean groaned. "How could these people have this many records?" The room was the size of a basketball quart and stuffed with boxes and boxes of files.
"I think some of these date back hundreds of years." Taylor said. He looked for a shelf with the first part of the mysterious code. "I wonder what the E stands for." He found several shelves with 'E'. He followed the boxes until he found one with an 'N'
"How do you know what you are looking for?" Dean asked. He hadn't seen a system quite like the one being used.
"Think of it like your car. It would be something like C for Chevy, I for Impala, the number is the year, maybe down to the serial number too." Taylor answered. He pulled a box from the shelf, slowly, incase it was wired. "This is the EN0091, so the number after the space should be a specific file." He opened the box and looked for the appropriate folder. "Here."
Dean read over his shoulder. "The Nephilian Project."
John had found proof that Henry was enrolled in the 'Men of Letters' but not much else. He saw Kate yawn and rest her head on her hands. "You should head to bed."
Kate snapped her head up. "No! I'm not sleepy."
John stared at her.
"I'm sorry." She said, quickly. "This is all so exciting."
"It can be exciting tomorrow too." He said.
"It isn't even time for bed yet." Kate whined.
John looked at his watch. "It is coming up on 10."
Kate really didn't want to put down the research. "And?"
"Do I need to remind you who you are talking to?" John asked.
Kate's mouth dropped open. "Uh, maybe I am a little tired."
John chuckled. "Go get Taylor too. We have plenty of time the next two days. I've been driving most of the day so I could use some shut eye too."
Kate scrambled out of the room. "Taylor, John says we have to go to bed."
Taylor was holding the folder in his hand. "What time is it?"
"Nearly 10." Kate answered.
Taylor frowned. "I guess we can look at this tomorrow."
Dean saw the look on Kate's face. She must have tried to argue because she was annoyed that Taylor gave in so easily.
"I wonder if this place has hot water." Kate said.
Dean shrugged. "I guess we will see. Although, a cold shower never hurt anyone."
Kate rolled her eyes.
Dean sent them to gather their stuff as he tested out the shower. He put his hand under the spray and found that the water pressure was nice. He smiled when the water started to warm. "Well, good news. We have hot water."
Kate cracked the door to the other bathroom. "Why does this place have a ladies room if it is for the MEN of letters?"
Dean shrugged. "Maybe they had visitors here."
Kate noted that the ladies room was smaller but she had it all to herself.
Dean grabbed his own stuff. There were six shower stalls with heavy curtains that provided absolute privacy. He stepped into the shower and groaned happily as the water pelted his back.
Taylor put soap in his hair. "I can't shower in here if you keep making those noises."
Dean found a decorative bar of soap on one of the shelves. He threw it and managed to send it over the curtains and grinned when he heard a loud 'ow'.
"You just pelted me in the head with a rock." Taylor said.
Dean shrugged. "It was shaped like a flower. I thought you'd want it."
Kate put her hair in a bun so it didn't get wet but the shower was so tall that it was hard to avoid. She considered seeing if the head of the shower twisted to a different position but not only had she been told to ask for help, she didn't want to slip and die naked. She missed Millie and Liam. She hoped they were still okay. Next time that they visited this place, she was going to insist the cats come. She wrapped up her shower and got out. She went to the laundry room and got the sheets. "Dean?"
Dean was in 'his' room putting his stuff away. "What is it?"
"Sam said you'd show me how to put these sheets on." Kate said.
Dean smiled. "Bring them here." He showed her to make a bed with hospital corners. "Easy once you figure it out."
Kate left to do her own bed.
"Hey, kiddo. You don't need to make all the beds. Let the others do their own." Dean said.
Kate was too tired to make them all anyway. She fixed her own bed and got her blanket. "This place is kind of cold."
Dean helped her straighten the blanket. "Well, it is under ground. In the winter, it probably feels warm. It probably stays at this temperature year round." Dean pulled the top of the blanket back. "Do you need anything else?"
Kate sat on the bed and stretched. "Nope."
Dean lifted the blanket and then put it back over her when she got situated. "If you wake up early I'm going to kick your butt."
Kate smiled. "You wake up early."
Dean smirked. "Yeah but I'm less annoying in the morning."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Me being cheerful is annoying?"
Dean ruffled her hair.
"Fine then. I'll make sure my attitude sucks in the morning." Kate said with a yawn.
"Hmm, no. I like cheery Kate better. Get some sleep." He said as he turned off her light.
Taylor required assistance with the sheet folding as well. "Thanks, Dean."
Dean told him it was no problem and left the room. "Those two are good for the night."
John looked at him. "I'd say they are old enough not to be tucked in."
Dean blushed. "It is a new place and they didn't know how to make a bed without the fitted sheets."
John smiled.
Dean realized John wasn't truly questioning him. "Did you find anything interesting?"
John nodded. "Here and there. Henry was a member of this place. I figured I'd look at it again with fresh eyes. I have been up for a day or two."
Dean wasn't surprised. He took a sip from the glass that had been put in front of him. He closed his eyes and let the warmth spread across his face. "If your stash was this good, my teenage years would have been way more fun."
John chuckled. "If I had this stuff in my stash, you wouldn't have done anything. You'd have gotten cocky and passed out before you made it out the door."
Dean scoffed. "I knew how to handle my liquor."
John and Bobby traded looks. "Tell me how you feel about moonshine." John said.
Dean grimaced. "It wasn't my fault that the Amish don't dilute the stuff. It was medicinal after all."
John vividly remembered that night. Sam had taken the car to pick Dean and Caleb up. They had gotten moonshine from the Amish and were so drunk they couldn't even crawl. By the time they made it back to the house they were renting, Sam had tried to play it off like they weren't drunk. Dean had tried to act sober but was giggling like a little girl. John smiled warmly. "Do you remember anything from that night?"
Dean tapped his fingers on the glass in his hands. "I remember you trying to flay me with the damn belt."
"That was two days later." John said with a chuckle.
Dean furrowed his brows. "No that was the same night."
Bobby shook his head. "Your dad is right. He called me laughing his ass off about you two dumbasses and didn't have the heart to deal with you until a few days later."
Dean scoffed. "Oh so you thought it was funny?"
John sighed. "Oh I was mad. You screwed up big time but you were so out of it that I had to laugh. You tried to get on Sam's back and just managed to tackle him and pin him to the ground. That black eye you had was from him trying to roll you off of him."
Dean wasn't sure John was telling the truth. "Sam picked us up, we got home and saw the truck and then you lit into me."
John shook his head, amusedly. "You were too far gone."
Dean was questioning himself. "Caleb was."
"You both were." John said with a smile.
Dean groaned. "Let's just keep that story to ourselves." He drank the rest of his drink. "Things are less funny now that I'm helping keep those two alive."
Bobby grumbled. "Why do you think I'm as grumpy as I am? You and your brother damn near killed me."
Dean grinned. "And you still signed up to do it again." He stretched. "There are six showers and fantastic water pressure. You should try one of them out."
John raised an eyebrow. "I know when to shower."
Dean scoffed. "You take 30 second boot camp showers. Enjoy it for once. This place is like your dream come true."
John did really like the place. He could let his guard down because they were secluded and the warding was impressive. "I need to move my truck."
Bobby got up. "Follow the path. I'll open the garage doors."
Dean excused himself and sought out his bed. He was far from drunk but the whiskey had warmed his body and sleep called him.
John walked outside and instantly felt the heat of summer. The bunker blocked out any type of heat. He felt really good about the place, even if his father had abandoned him for it. He had a nagging question about why everything seemed to have frozen in 1958. He had plenty of time to find answers though. Even if the kids had to go back to school, he didn't. He saw the tunnel and eased the truck into it. He pulled through the double doors and parked the truck beside the impala. Normally, he'd stay up and pour over the stacks of papers, but that night he would get a reasonable amount of sleep. For the first time in months, no, years he felt at peace.