Title: Lost and Found
Chapter: 31
~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh crap, was Bobby’s first response to the news and he could see it was Ellen’s as well. “Balls,” he said, setting the plastic sacks he’d been carrying on the floor.
“Oh hell,” Ellen replied.
They stood staring at the ceiling in the direction of the room Jo was in. Her sobs were heart-wrenching and Bobby wanted to throttle Dean even though he could understand why he’d stormed out. To Dean, such news was like the Titanic going down while he was on it. The boy had both a thing for family and a firm mistaken notion that he couldn’t have kids and such if he wanted them.
“Call Gwen,” he said. “I’ll call Sam.”
The news wasn’t a surprise to either of them and Bobby thought the fact that Sam was still with Gwen a good sign. Dean hadn’t called him with some urgent case they needed to leave on, which meant, most likely, that Dean was still in the area somewhere. Where would he go? A bar obviously, but which one?
Leaving Gwen and Ellen with Jo, he and Sam set out to search Sioux Falls for the Impala. Dean wasn’t answering his phone and Bobby nixed Sam’s GPS idea. They’d find Dean in the old fashioned way, which would give him time to cool off. Either that or get so stinkin’ drunk they could drag him back to the house fairly easily.
It was late when they found him. Bobby wondered if they were going to have to carry him out and sober him up before taking him back. If he’d been drinking all this time, they just might.
Sam got out of the car. “I’ll go in and get him.”
Bobby shook his head. “Not this time. You get the Impala goin’. It’s time I had a talk with him, former married guy to currently married guy. There’s things he needs to hear that you can’t tell him.”
He looked like he didn’t quite believe that. “Like what? It’s pretty much a case of ‘what the hell are you doing?’.”
“It’s more than that and when you have a wife, you can talk to him about the vows he took. Get the car started.”
Sam rolled his eyes, shook his head, and shrugged. “Okay. I’ll start the car.”
Bobby walked into the building. Dean was at the end of the bar, a glass and a nearly empty bottle in front of him. He wondered how much of the whiskey gone from the glass had been Dean’s doing and pulled up the stool beside him.
~~~~~~~~~~
“What are you doin’ here, son?”
Bobby’s voice wasn’t gruff or angry, though Dean had expected it to be so. “Havin’ a drink.”
“Looks like you’ve had more than one.” He gestured to the bottle.
“Looks can be deceiving.” His intention had been to get drunk and keep drinking until he couldn’t hear Jo saying she was pregnant anymore. He’d ordered a drink, told the man to leave the bottle. He’d even started to swig down the booze, but halfway through his first glass, he’d gotten a mental image of Jo, very pregnant and trying to put him to bed after he’d had too much to drink. On the heels of that image had come another one -- Jo not willing to leave him with their baby because he drank too much. More and more images turned about in his mind, a realistic portrait of where they’d be if he did what he’d initially planned and got completely soused.
It wasn’t good to be drunk with a baby or child. He needed to dial it back a few notches.
Maybe he should leave. Maybe he should let Jo raise their child herself. But if he did that, he’d be an absent father, the same issue there was with his own dad, not to mention he didn’t want to leave Jo. He loved her. What was the right thing to do? What was the option that would be less likely to cause any of them pain in the end?
So he’d sat here with a paid for bottle and glass, swirling the amber liquid about and contemplating if he really wanted to try drinking this away or doing any of the other actions swirling through his mind. Maybe it was a good sign that he still had most of that original glass even after sitting there all day and a portion of the night. Maybe it was a good sign he was still sitting there and hadn’t called Sam.
“You love that woman you married?”
“Course I do.”
“Then why are you tied in knots over this? Dean, babies are a blessing.”
He snorted. “Not in our line of work.”
“Especially in our line of work. It takes a determined hunter to make a family work in this life and those who do it are strong and got something special about them.”
“But to subject a child to this life? To the traveling and the never ending terror? I’ve been there on that end, remember? It’s nothing but misery and pain and fear. On the other side of it? I tried it with Lisa and Ben.” Ahh, but Jo’s not Lisa, his mind whispered. You can’t compare the two. “It didn’t work out. It came home through me. It came home as me. It won’t work out now. Only result is me becoming my dad and I love Jo too much to do that to her or our kid. I can’t do it. Best thing for them is me leaving.”
“Are you a husband, Dean?”
“Yes.”
“Bull. You promised Jo you’d love her, honor her, and cherish her through anything that comes your way until death. Now I don’t see her dead again, so that means you’re going back on your word that you made before God and everyone. You swore you’d stick with her through anything.”
“She’s pregnant, Bobby.”
“And you’re going to let her be alone through it because you’re afraid you can’t be a daddy? Spare me. You made a commitment to Jo and it’s not something you throw away at the first sign of trouble. You dig in together and face whatever it is, or do you not understand what the word ‘commitment’ means? Or how about ‘vow‘? You know what that one means, because you took one with her and that vow is sacred.”
There was the anger he’d thought he’d hear. Bobby’d just been building up to it.
“I’ve said it before, but damn it, Dean, could you just once not be a selfish, self-absorbed son of a bitch? Did you not notice how scared your wife is about this?” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “She’s crying her eyes out back at the house, thinks her marriage is over because she’s got a bun in the oven. She’s terrified of all the same things you are. That woman was raised in a hunting family, in case you don’t remember that little detail. She’s not a civilian. Her dad died on a hunt. Hell, she died on one! She’s aware of the risks, she knows the score.” Bobby turned on the stool one finger jabbing against Dean’s chest. “Now, you nut up and do it fast, because like it or not, idjit, you’re a husband and father and you’ve got more than your own thick skull to think about. Go home, tell Jo you love her, then show her you love her, or so help me God, I’ll kick your ass to the moon and back and back again for good measure then hand you over to all the other people that love that girl, too.”
“Bobby --”
“Don’t be talking to me. Talk to Jo. Get moving. Sam’ll drive you back.”
Dean slowly slid from the stool and gestured at the bottle. “Bottle’s paid for.”
“You still here?”
He raised his hands in a gesture of defeat and left the bar. Sam was leaning against the Impala, arms crossed. Dean stopped in front of him. “You gonna lecture me, too?”
“Do I need to?”
“Bobby gave a pretty good speech. Hit most of the points I’ve been pondering for the past few hours.”
“Any he missed I should go over?”
“None jump out.”
Sam scuffed his foot along the ground and stared at it as he spoke. “You’re going back to Bobby’s, right?” He glanced up. “I mean, I can see you’re okay to drive. I don’t have to drive you. You’re going to go back?” Sam shrugged. “Your call, Dean.”
He knew what Sam was asking. If Sam let him drive back alone, would he really be going back, or would he take the opportunity to leave and run away? Would he run away out of his fears? Sam was letting him make the choice. Stay or go? It really was up to Dean. Sam wasn’t going to force him to go back. He looked like he wanted to, yet he wasn’t going to. He’d let Dean make whatever decision he wanted to on this.
Dean looked at the building, then the road. Months ago, he’d never thought he could have a steady girlfriend and he’d done that. He’d thought he couldn’t have a wife and here he was with one. Maybe he could be a father. Everyone around him seemed to think so. Maybe it’d be different with Jo.
What the hell am I doing, he thought. Get back to Jo, you dumb bastard. You finally find a woman who’ll have you, warts and all, and you contemplate leaving? Are you screwed in the head?
“Thanks, Sammy, but uh,” digging the keys from his pocket, he held them out, “drive me anyway. You can reiterate what an idiot I’m being by even thinking about running from this.”
In the car and halfway back, Sam spoke again. “It’s not idiotic, Dean, the whole wanting to run away thing. It’s a natural reaction. Babies are a responsibility. Kids are a responsibility. They change things.” He glanced at Dean. “You’re good with kids. I turned out okay. It’s scary and Gwen and I talked once about what I’d do --”
“You’ve talked kids?” That was surprising. Sam avoided the subject like the plague. “Isn’t it a little soon for you two?”
“It was a hypothetical discussion. We were actually talking about you and Jo and the subject shifted when we disagreed on a point.”
“What’d you decide you’d do?”
“It’s not important. My point is, the idea of being a dad scares normal guys and since we’re far from normal, I think the scary part gets magnified. Going by that line of reasoning….” He shrugged. “Jo’s got to be terrified.”
“Bobby mentioned that.” He leaned his head back. “It’s all real, Sam. Babies…they make it real. You know what I mean? Babies step it up. Add a new layer to life.”
“Well, if the monsters can have babies, why not the hunters?”
“What kind of life am I going to give that kid?”
“That’s for you and Jo to decide together. I think Jo’d like a say in your lives, Dean. It’s not all your decision. You’ve got her to work through it with. If you decide to retire --”
“Can’t do that. I don’t like retirement.”
“Good, because I don’t think Jo will want to go that route.”
Neither did he and not going that route with kids scared the hell out of him. “So how do I raise a kid without raising it in the life when Jo and I are still in it? Riddle me that one.”
Sam pulled in the drive. “You and Jo make that call. No one ever said parenthood was easy for anyone.”
He sat there in the car when Sam stopped, not moving to get out. “So what did you decide on the subject of you and kids?”
“You’re stalling,” Sam accused in an almost weary tone.
“Yeah, I know.” Out of all the hardest things he’d had to do, this -- walking straight towards fatherhood -- was now first on the list. Once he walked back in that house, that was it. He was accepting the role and whatever came from it, whether joy or heartache or a bit of both. He’d be with his wife while she carried their child and be with her after, doing the dad thing. Diapers, two in the morning feedings, and all the things that came with babies.
Someday, his son or daughter would raise hands up to him and call him ‘daddy’ and he’d pick that child up and cradle him or her to him.
His hands were shaking and he balled them into fists.
He remembered taking care of Sam when he’d been little more than a child himself.
Dean could feel the sweat on his back, his shirt sticking to him.
Be a man, he told himself. Jo’s right. You were right there with her every time. You were a happy participant in getting her this way. This baby she’s carrying is part you and part her, now get in there and act like the husband she needs right now.
Sam wouldn’t answer the question, refusing to draw out the conversation, and Dean got out of the car. Time to face the future.
The house was dark except for a light upstairs and one downstairs. As Dean went inside, Gwen and Ellen came outside. Ellen gave him a hard stare, but the relief in her eyes made him wince. If they’d all thought he’d run, Jo must really be in a bad way.
Gwen paused and turned back. “Dean.”
“Yeah?”
“I turned out fine, didn’t I?”
“Looks like.”
“Food for thought, okay?”
She was trying to encourage him and he nodded. “Thanks.”
“It’s not all bad. Look for the good.” She smiled a little. “Yeah, I know. I’m a Pollyanna under it all. Sam’s already called me on that one.”
“Sometimes we need that. Sometimes I need that.” He gestured at the drive. “You’re ride is waiting.”
In a minute, Dean was alone downstairs. Stalling a bit longer, he took his boots off, thinking on what he needed to say to Jo. Swallowing hard, he went upstairs. Jo was on the bed facing the door when he opened it. Her arms were tight about a pillow and, in a second, he could see that she really was as terrified as he was, maybe even more so. A rush of guilt and shame slid over him and he felt like the worst heel in the world for accusing her earlier of deliberately getting pregnant.
“I’m an ass,” he told her and stepped in the room, closing the door behind him.
“You can say that again,” she mumbled and buried her face in the pillow.
“First time was hard enough.” Dean crossed to the bed and sat down. He wanted to touch her, comfort her, and after a moment, he put a hand on her hip. When she didn’t flinch, pull away, or push him away, he gave it a gentle squeeze. “I know you didn’t do it on purpose. I just…. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not thrilled about this either, Dean.” She rolled her face back out from the pillow. Her skin was blotchy from tears, her eyes red and swollen, and she looked exhausted. Was she? He thought pregnant women slept a lot. Was she to that point yet? “I’m not ready to be a mother. I’m not mom material. I don’t do mom things.”
“You’ll be a great mom, Jo. What are you talking about? I’m the one that’ll suck at parenthood.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. If any man was a born dad, you are. You like kids. I don’t like kids. Or babies. They freak me out. I mean, what if I break it?”
“Break it?”
“You know what I mean.” Pushing the pillow aside, she sat up. “Babies are tiny. What if I cut off a finger while trying to clip it’s nails?”
“It’s not that hard. You hold the hand still and clip with baby clippers. It’s holding the tiny clippers that’s the problem.”
“You’ve done it before.”
“Not since Sam was little.” He remembered their dad showing him how to clip Sam’s nails, emphasizing the fact that he needed to be firm, yet gentle. His dad had made it look so easy, but it hadn’t been as easy as Dean had thought. Still, it wasn’t as difficult as Jo was making it out to be either.
“See. You have experience. I never even did the babysitting thing as a teen. I didn’t like kids when I was one.”
“Didn’t you have a baby doll or something like that when you were little?”
She nodded. “Sure. Mom says I finger-painted a protection symbol on it’s stomach, announced it was possessed anyway, and threw it in the trash.”
“Why’d you throw it away?”
One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “Well, when you want to get rid of things you put them in the trash, right? I threw it in the trash to get rid of the demon.”
He choked back a snort of laughter.
“It’s okay. You can laugh. Mom does every time she tells that story.” She was relaxing now, the line of strain on her face easing.
“It is a cute story, Jo.” He could see it in his head, too. Cute little Jo in pigtails dumping a doll in the trashcan under Ellen’s amused gaze and explaining why she did it with a serious and firm tone.
“With four year old logic.” She pushed her hair back from her face with a hand. “I was four at the time. Point is, I wasn’t the typical girl. Babies scare me.”
Bending a knee, he moved closer, hands raising to cup her face. “You’re not the typical woman, but you like taking care of people. You take care of me. You’ll be a good mom.”
Her gaze met his. “This makes it real, Dean.”
‘This makes it real’. Pretty much the same words he’d said to Sam. Good to know they were on the same wavelength.
She clutched at his shirt with both hands. “It means --”
“I know.” He nodded. The fact that her fears were his made his own somehow seem less than they’d been. He felt calm and strangely in control. Dean slid his hands down to her shoulders and around to her back. In this moment, she seemed so fragile beneath his touch.
“We’re adults and we’re going to be responsible for…for….”
“For a baby.”
“Yeah. For one of those.” Her eyes were wide. “What are we going to do?”
He looked at her, gauging the weariness he saw and made a decision. “We take it one day at a time, one step at a time. Nothing big. What’s the first thing we need to do?” She stared at him and he shifted position, bringing her closer so they could lie down together. Once they were stretched out, her head on his chest, he continued. “We get you a doctor. Jodie had a kid once. She might know a good one and a pediatrician too. We get you started on whatever doctors want pregnant chicks to do. Then we buckle down and get a place, get it set up. We’ll be busy for awhile, but if Bobby can go off on vacation, we can take a couple weeks to do that.”
A couple weeks would work, right?
“What if you see a case you want to work?”
“We bump it to someone else. We need to get a solid base established and we need to have it now.” He smoothed his hand along her back. “But right now, we need to sleep. You’re exhausted.”
Her body shook with a yawn. “There’s more to talk about.”
“Not tonight.” He kissed the top of her head. “Go to sleep. The rest can wait until morning.”
Jo fell asleep within minutes, sliding so deeply into it that she was like a rag doll when he moved her so he could draw the covers up.
Here we go, he thought, and closed his eyes. Sleep dragged him under.
~~~~~~~~~~
For days, Ellen Harvelle was difficult to reach, not answering her phone and when she did call back, she was in a hurry. Nor did she come by the house. Bobby would only shrug when Jo asked him what her mom was up to, like he didn’t know, when she was sure he did know exactly what Ellen was doing.
Finally, a week after Jo had told her news, Ellen marched into Bobby’s kitchen. She was all business, no nonsense, and brooking no disobedience when she crooked her finger and said, “You four. Get in that car and follow me.”
They all exchanged curious glances and a babble of speculation as they followed Ellen, but their response was immediate and without hesitation. They followed.
She led them around the edge of Sioux Falls about fifteen minutes, sticking to back roads mostly, then pulled into a gravel driveway that curved around.
The shrubs around the property were overgrown, but Jo could see a house rising above the tops -- white with a gray roof. At the end of the drive was a two car garage that looked more like a shed because of the side sliding doors.
“She’s a realtor now,” Dean asked, turning off the car. Dust from their passage swirled and lifted into the air.
“She likes shopping for properties,” Jo said. Surely Dean had realized that by now? Ellen Harvelle liked the chase of a good property and the process of finding negotiation points. If she wanted a new career, she’d probably do well negotiating property deals for other people.
“She ever bought anything aside from the Roadhouse?” Sam opened the door.
“Not that I know of,” Jo replied, but seriously? She didn’t know. They’d never had that discussion ever. Ellen could have property all over the place that Jo didn’t know about. Her mother had more layers to her than an onion. “It’s another one of those weird quirky things she likes to do, like her Christmas routines and artsy movies.”
“I got dragged to a few open houses,” Gwen said. She slid across the seat towards Sam. “She was curious what houses were going for in those areas. She’s sharp, too. Leaky roof? Doesn’t get past her eagle eye. Flooding in the basement? Just try to convince her it’s fixed when it hasn’t been.”
“That sounds like her.”
Ellen approached. “You going to sit there with your mouths open or go inside?”
They got out of the car. The hedge surrounded the property and what wasn’t surrounded had a wooden privacy fence. Two trees would shade the backyard from the afternoon sun. Jo took Dean’s hand and walked with him up the sidewalk to the front of the house and onto the porch while Sam and Gwen set off around the yard.
Jo could almost picture a few chairs set up on the porch, maybe a cooler between a couple.
Her mother unlocked the front door and opened it.
“You get your realtor license, mom?”
Ellen gave her a half smile. “Just take a look, Jo.”
The entry was small, but like a separate little room that opened into the living room. There were a few pieces of furniture. To the immediate left was a room that could be closed off with pocket doors. At the other end of the living room on the left was another set of pocket doors and between them was a regular door. To the right on the other side of the room, was an open arch leading into a small kitchen. It wasn’t huge, but it had the necessities. Fridge, stove, microwave, and a stackable washer-dryer in the corner.
Jo eyed it. It had that new look to it, the body of it shiny and very white. She opened the washer door, then the dryer. It even had that new appliance smell. Thoughtful, she stepped back. It’d be nice to not have to haul their laundry elsewhere to get it done….
“”What’s she up to,” Dean whispered, stepping to the side door.
“Got me,” she replied, peering around him. “Is that the stairs to the basement?”
His head turned and he grunted. “Let’s see the rest of the place first.”
There was a full bathroom at the back of the house off the living room and behind the kitchen. Jo thought the two rooms on the side would make good bedrooms. They were connected on the outside wall by a short hallway and a closet.
She heard Sam and Gwen come inside and returned to the living room. Sam was teasing Gwen about something in the kitchen, their voices too low to make out anything except his tone and Gwen’s amused laugh. Her mother was sitting at the table looking smug as can be. Jo crossed her arms. “Mom?”
“Go see the upper level,” was her suspiciously cheerful reply. Ellen pointed at the closed door along the wall. “That door opens into the stairway.”
“She’s definitely up to something,” she muttered to Dean as she went up the stairs.
Upstairs boasted three bedrooms, another full bath, and a large area at the top of the stairs that had built-in bookcases. Again, Jo had a mental image of what the room could look like. They could put a desk just out from the one wall, a file cabinet near it, and add cork tile to most of one wall. It could work.
“Any idea what, because I’m drawing a blank besides her looking for properties for us.” Dean opened a cupboard in the bathroom, then closed it.
“Not sure.” Ellen was too smug for it only to be that.
The basement was similar to Bobby’s in structure and Jo heard Sam and Dean mumbling about panic rooms as they gestured to one of the two separate rooms down there. If they wanted to create a panic room, there was space to do it.
Once they were all back upstairs and surrounding the table -- Jo on Dean’s lap and Gwen on Sam’s -- Jo cleared her throat. “What’s this about, mom?”
“It’s about finding you four a place. Isn’t that obvious?” She leaned back in her chair. “Furniture is included, what there is of it. It’s not much, but a few thrift shops should see you set. The place has been cleaned --”
“What’s the rent,” Sam asked. He had an arm about Gwen’s waist.
“Do you like the place,” Ellen countered.
He nodded. “Sure. Basement is perfect. Garage could be with work.”
“Layout is decent,” Dean said. “The yard has advantages.”
“Two full bathrooms. That’s all that needs saying,” was Gwen’s input.
Jo felt Dean tense behind her. “What’s the rent and is the owner willing to let us make modifications to the property?”
For a brief second, Jo saw satisfaction in her mother’s gaze. Her reply stunned Jo.
~~~~~~~~~~
Watching the four of them look over the house was like watching Jo open Christmas presents when she was a child and Ellen had trouble not grinning. She’d been hoping they’d react this way.
Ellen crossed her legs and tossed four sets of keys across the table. “Happy hunting, family. It’s yours.”
“Ellen?” Sam picked up one set of keys. “Did you….” His lips pursed with a question he didn’t finish, brows raising.
Jo went very still. “Mom? You….” She licked her lips. “You bought us a house?” One brow quirked.
Dean frowned and shook his head slowly. “Ellen, we can’t accept this.”
Only Gwen was silent, staring at the keys and at Ellen over and over. She looked like she was about to cry and Ellen wondered if Gwen was just now understanding that Ellen considered her family, too.
“Why not, Dean? Why can’t you take it?”
“We can’t take all your money like this.”
“What are you going to live on.” Sam asked.
Both of them were the sweetest men she knew and Ellen uttered a low laugh. “I have what I need. Besides, if you’re so worried about my finances, let me assure you I’m not destitute. The Roadhouse property finally sold and for more than I’d expected it to. I’ve still got money left from that even after buying this place and Dean? What’s mine will eventually be yours and Jo’s anyway.” She nudged the remaining three sets of keys closer. “I bought this place as an investment property, but Jodie and Bobby pointed out that it’d be a good place for you four. The more I walked through it, the more I agreed. Now, if you really don’t want it, I’ll rent it out and make a profit in the long run. If you do want it, we’ll get the legal ball rolling to put the place in all your names.”
“You’ll lose the income,” Jo said, but Ellen didn’t miss how her eyes kept returning to the keys.
“Jo, baby, I don’t care about the money. I care about all of you and if you’re setting up a home base, you do it right. Best way is without a mortgage or rent to pay. Trust me on this. If I can help you, I will. Let me do this.”
“We need to talk about it.” Dean was torn. Ellen could see it. They were all torn.
She stood. “Lock up when you leave. I’ll be at Jodie’s until ten, then I’m heading home. No rush. Take your time. You talk this out between you.”
Ellen hadn’t ended up paying as much for the property as they’d likely think. Jodie had known the owner and advised Ellen to bring Bobby in as negotiator rather than doing it herself. The old boy who’d owned it hadn’t thought much of independent women. As much as Ellen hated that mindset, she wasn’t above using it to her advantage. Bobby had gone up against the old guy, who, in Ellen’s opinion, hadn’t had a prayer. Any man who could get his soul back from a demon like Bobby had was a prize in negotiations.
They’d argued over every little point, back and forth, offer and counteroffer, until Bobby had worn him down. Ellen had gotten the property for practically a song.
To her, giving it to Jo, Dean, Sam, and Gwen was an act of love. They needed a good place, she had one, and honestly, she really did have what she needed to live on. She didn’t care about the money.
Bobby and Jodie were waiting with beer, popcorn, and DVD’s at Jodie’s.
“Well,” Bobby asked.
“They like it?” Jodie handed her a beer.
“It’s looking positive.”
Half an hour later, her phone rang.
~~~~~~~~~~
When Ellen had gone, Gwen moved to that chair and listened with half an ear to the conversation around her.
Ellen’s generosity floored Gwen, though by now, she shouldn’t be surprised at anything Ellen did.
She looked up to find three pairs of sympathetic eyes upon her. “I didn’t expect….”
Jo shrugged. “You’re family.” She said it like it was a well-known fact.
A small smile played at the corners of Dean’s mouth. “Once Ellen decides that….”
Sam crossed his arms on the tabletop. “There’s no going back.”
Reaching out, she picked up one set of keys and held them up. “Are we accepting her offer?”
“It would help to have only utilities and taxes to pay.” He held up the set of keys still in his hand.
“Anyone else feel like mama bird just shoved her newly hatched babies out of the nest into a freefall?” Dean picked up a set of keys, excitement sparking in his eyes, that same excitement Gwen saw in Sam’s eyes and knew was in her own. It was happening. It was really happening.
Jo put a hand on her stomach, looking slowly around the room. That hand moved to take Dean’s and she picked up the final set of keys with her free hand. “Well, then. Let’s make mama bird proud, shall we?”
It was decided.
The house was theirs.
Team Winchester had found a home base.
~~~~~~~~~~
Uzziel was missing.
There was no denying it now. He was just…gone. Castiel paced the throne room, wondering what he should do. Create a search party? He and Abby had already been searching with no luck. There was simply no trail. If Uzziel had chosen to leave heaven, he’d certainly covered his tracks well enough.
“Castiel?”
He turned. Jael came towards him. “Yes?”
“Can I talk to you a moment?”
“Certainly.”
“I think Uzziel’s been kidnapped.” He took off the glasses he didn’t really need. Worry swam in his dark eyes. Jael was devoted to Uzziel. If anyone knew that Uzziel had left heaven willingly, it would be Jael. “I mean, he was committed to doing a good job. He wanted the potential rewards when our Father returns and was determined not to think about earth. He was trying to put it from his mind, Castiel. You have to believe me. He wouldn’t abandon heaven. Not like this. He’d tell you if he’d changed his mind and was leaving.”
He hadn’t told Raphael he’d changed his mind. He’d simply switched sides. Castiel didn’t point that out. “Perhaps it was a spur of the moment decision like his initial one.”
“No! He wouldn’t! He knows you depend on him. I know what you’re thinking. You think it’s like with Raphael, but let me tell you something about that. Raphael was insane and we all knew it. The goal he had wasn’t a worthy one in the end and if there’s one thing you know about Uzziel, isn’t it that he works for worthy goals? When he realized Raphael’s goal wasn’t a good one, he turned, but this goal we have here now is a good one. He wouldn’t abandon it!”
“Your faith in him --”
“Do you trust him?”
“Yes.” He said it without hesitation, for even though Uzziel’s methods were different from his and they’d disagreed, he had come to trust him.
“Then don’t give up on him. Don’t stop searching and trying to find out what happened to him. Someone knows something.”
“You have an idea on how to proceed then? We’ve searched heaven. He isn’t here.”
His eyes glittered with determination. “I have an idea on who to talk to.”
Unfortunately, Castiel had an idea as well. Who here wanted Uzziel out of the way and would go to any lengths to accomplish that? There was only one name that leapt to mind.
Balthazar.
~~~~~~~~~~
The past two weeks since Jo had announced her pregnancy had gone by quickly and not entirely the way Ellen suspected Jo and Dean had wanted them to go.
Lordy, she could see a ton of herself in Jo now!
Once Jo embraced the idea of that house, she’d thrown herself into setting it up, bossing everyone around her to get what she wanted done. Ellen recalled herself working on the Roadhouse many years ago. Heaven help him if Bill had gotten in her way back then! It was the same with Jo and Dean on the home base.
Gwen and Sam pretty much went along with what Jo wanted, though they’d put their feet down on a few things. It should have taken longer to get the basic house set up, but with the four of them working at it, it was ready to move in in no time. The next step was creating the panic room, which was Sam and Dean’s project. Neither would let Gwen or Jo help. For now, the basement was the ‘man space’.
Dean was treating Jo like a delicate princess and Ellen sincerely hoped he’d pull back on that, because too much of it and Jo was going to deck him. Ellen could see it was going to spread into their hunting life and cause strife.
She was staying out of it, though. It was their marriage and their life. If they asked for her advice, she’d give it. Until then, she’d zip it.
Funny, how once she’d accepted that Jo was an adult, she felt free. She still worried and all that, yet she was calm in a way she’d never been before. The desperation she’d always felt before had gone from her. Jo was an adult, with her own life, and Ellen couldn’t protect her from whatever would come. A parent couldn’t. A parent had to let go.
As for her pregnancy, Jo had come to grips with it, too, finding a doctor and having her first appointment. Dean had gone with her and come back saying he should have been a gynecologist. Gwen had choked on her coffee and said, “Oh thank God for small favors that that dream was never realized.” He’d responded with a lopsided grin and some teasing on the apparently futile search for real information on Gwen’s birth parents.
“Hello Ellen.”
She whirled. The voice had a faint accent. The man himself was thin, his gaze brimming with sardonic amusement, as though he knew a joke Ellen didn’t quite get yet. He wasn’t a demon unless he was a high level one. She had all the protections she could put on this house. “What are you,” she asked, stepping back towards the door she’d come through a moment earlier.
“Very interested in you is what I am.” Striding forward, he grasped her arm, his other hand raising to her face.
Ellen lost consciousness.
She woke on a bed in a cabin. The walls were rough wood and sitting on the floor beside her was Uzziel. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The cabin appeared to be a single large room with one open door off to the side. Through it, she could see a bathtub. “What the hell was that,” she asked, “and where the hell am I?”
“That,” he said, staring at the flames dancing in the fireplace, “was Balthazar.” Raising his hands, he gestured around them. “Welcome to my prison, Ellen.” He turned his head, looking at her. Sadness flickered in his eyes. “Twenty days of temptation passed. Twenty left. Somehow, I don’t think I’m going to pass this trial.”
He returned his gaze to the flames and Ellen wondered just what she specifically was doing there. Who was Balthazar and why was he tempting Uzziel?
