Supernatural: I Believe The Children Are Our Future
November 12th 2009 22:03
Alliance, NE
A girl sits in a darkened living room, eyes glued to the TV. As she watches, she reaches up and grabs a hairbrush off of the TV and starts brushing her hair. A sudden noise catches her attention and she looks away from the TV. Getting up, she sets her brush down and goes to check it out.
“Jimmy?”
A thumping noise answers back.
Slowly, she walks across the carpet, barefoot, towards the closet. She reaches her blue painted finger-nailed hand towards the doors and opens and pulls them aside.
A boy lays inside with something sticking through his head, blood running down the side of his face.
The babysitter sighs. “I told you to go to bed.”
“I can’t,” the boy answers, not moving. “I’m dead.”
“What is this? Ketchup?” She leans forward and pulls him out of the closet.
“Ow!” Jimmy complains. “You’re mean!”
“Yeah, that’s what your parents pay me for, to be mean.” She ushers him out. “Bed. Now.”
“Okay, okay.” He takes the thing off his head. “I’ll go to bed,” he adds. “If you let me touch your boobs.”
The babysitter rolls her eyes, steering him towards the stairs. “Go.”
Jimmy goes upstairs and she settles back in front of the TV, where a dog is trying to get at a girl in a car. Frowning at the loud barking, she turns off the TV. A dog still barks.
Getting up, she goes to the window and brushes back the curtains to look outside. The night is full of barking dogs. A long howl then silence.
The TV turns back on, fuzzy with static.
Jimmy’s parents return, and his dad tells his mom he’ll take Amber home. “Don’t wait up.”
He walks over to turn off the TV as his wife heads upstairs.
“Amber?” He walks over to the girl sleeping on the couch. She doesn’t answer. “Amber?” He tries to shake her awake, suddenly noticing something strange—some sort of liquid on his hands.
He reaches over to turn on the lamp. Blood. It’s blood on his hands. Turning back to the babysitter, he finds blood dripping down her face. He turns her over to find the other side of her head a bloody mess.
“FRANCIIIIEEEEEEEE!”
~*~*~
Sam and Dean introduce themselves as FBI agents and put their badges in as the coroner asks what brings them by.
“We need to see Amber Greer’s body.”
“Really?” the coroner asks, confused. “What for?”
“The police report said something…clawed through her skull?” Dean asks.
“You didn’t read the autopsy report that I e-mailed out this morning?”
“We had, uh, server issues,” Sam answers quickly. Dean looks from his brother to the corner and shrugs. You know how it is. The coroner takes them to see the body.
Sam and Dean stare down at the woman on the morgue slab. Her head has definitely been clawed at.
“When they brought her in we thought she was attacked by a wolf or something,” the coroner tells them, and Dean adds, “Or something…”
“But we were wrong,” the mad continues, holding up an evidence bag.
Sam squints at the object. “Is that--?”
“It’s a press-on nail,” the coroner confirms. “We found it in her temporal lobe.”
“Is that even possible?” Sam asks.
“Wait, are you—“ Dean asks. “Are you saying that she did this to herself?”
“Uh-huh. She scratched her brains out.” The brothers continue to stare at the coroner as he adds, “It’d take hours and it’d hurt like hell, but sure, it’s possible.”
“How?”
“Pick your acronym,” the coroner answers Dean drily. “OCD, PCP, it all spells crazy. My guess?” he adds as Dean lifts the blanket to look at the girl’s missing blue nail. “Some kind of phantom itch. I mean, an extreme case, but…”
“Phantom itch?” Sam asks skeptically, and the coroner answers, “yep,” as he covers the body and pushes it back into the locker.
“All it takes is someone talking about an itch,” he says, closing the door. “Or thinking about one even, and suddenly you can’t stop scratching.”
“Thanks, doc.”
The coroner nods and leaves. Sam reaches for his collar as Dean scratches his ear. Yep, it’s true.
~*~*~
Sam is sitting in front of Jimmy’s parent’s in the same room that Amber was killed, as Dean walks around in the background. The babysitter’s brush still sits on top of the TV.
“Okay, now some of these questions might seem a bit odd,” Sam says. “But please just bare with me.” He gets out his notepad. “Have you noticed any cold spots in the house?”
The man looks at his wife then shakes his head. “No.”
“Kay, what about strange smells?”
“Smells?”
“Like say…”
Dean comes to an open doorway and spots Jimmy nervously watching him.
“Whatcha looking for?” the boy asks.
“Don’t know yet.”
Dean walks over to him. “It’s uh, Jimmy, right?”
Jimmy nods.
“So Amber was your babysitter?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yeah most of my babysitters sucked,” Dean answers. “Especially Miss Chancy, she only cared about two things: Dynasty and bed time.” Dean chuckles, but Jimmy just continues to stare at him. Okay then.
“Did you, uh, see anything strange that night?” Dean asks, moving on to a new topic.
“No sir,” Jimmy answers a little too quickly.
Dean studies him. “You sure about that?”
“I-I would tell you if I knew something, I promise. One hundred percent! Cross my heart, ” he adds quickly.
Dean glances over his shoulder towards Jimmy’s parents, and answers, “Jimmy, I uh, I happen to know you’re lying.”
“I’m not,” Jimmy answers nervously.
Dean stares at him a moment, then places his hand on the kids shoulder and slowly leans down to look him in the eye. “We gonna start talkin’ truth, or are you and me gonna have to take a little trip downtown?”
~*~*~
Outside, Dean holds up a package of itching power as he and Sam walk back to The Impala.
“Kid said he put this on the babysitter’s hairbrush.”
“Dean,” Sam answers, amused. “There’s no way itching powder made that girl scratch her brains out. It’s just ground-up maple seeds.”
“If you have any other theories, I’m open to ‘em.”
Sam’s phone rings.
“Yeah?” He pauses to listen as Dean glances back at his brother. “Yeah, we’ll be right there.”
They get in the car.
~*~*~
Sam and Dean arrive to find the most recent victim of weirdness that is striking this Nebraska town.
“What happened?” Sam asks as they wheel the body out of the room.
“Guy got electrocuted.”
“Any idea how?” Dean asks.
“Ah, maybe a loose wire or a piece of equipment shorted out,” the coroner answers. “So far we haven’t found anything.” He glances back in as Sam asks if there were any witnesses. “Yeah—“ he nodes to a man sitting at the end of the hospital bed in his robe and slippers. “—Guy in there, Mr. Stanley. He says he saw it, but He’s not making a lick of sense, he’s senile.”
Sam thanks him and he and Dean enter the room.
“Uh, Mr. Stanley?”
“It was just a joke,” the older man says forlornly. “I didn’t know that it would really work.”
“What would work?”
Mr. Stanley turns to look at them. “All I did…” he holds out a magic trick buzzer. “Was shake his hand.”
Sam and Dean exchange an alarmed look. Really?
~*~*~
Back at the hotel, Dean suit up, pulling on heavy rubber gloves and welding glasses. He puts the buzzer on his finger and turns to his brother. “You ready?”
“Hit it Mr. Wizard.” Sam raises his own protective eyewear. Dean flips down the cover on his glasses, then touches the buzzer to a ham sitting on the table in front of him. They both watch as the buzzer buzzes with electricity, cooking the ham in a matter of seconds.
Dean pulls his hand away as Sam lowers his goggles to stare in shock. Dean flips up his glasses, muttering, “That’ll do, pig.”
“What the hell?” Sam walks over to stare at the ham. “That crap isn’t supposed to work.”
Dean pulls off his eyewear and looks at the buzzer. “This thing doesn’t even have batteries.”
“So…so what? Are we looking at cursed objects?”
“Sounds good,” Dean answers, pulling out his knife. “Maybe there’s a powerful witch in town.” He finishes slicing off a piece of ham and pops it into his mouth. Sam just stares at his brother.
“Is there any link between the joy buzzer and the itching powder?” Dean asks, picking up another piece of ham and eating it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Uh, one was made in China the other in Mexico, but they were both bought in the same store,” Sam answers, watching his brother cut off another piece of ham. Dean offers it to Sam, and when Sam shakes his head, he pops it into his own mouth.
~*~*~
Sam and Dean walk up to the door of The Conjurarium. An evil laugh sounds as they open the door of the magic shop.
“Sam,” Dean whispers, immediately heading over to a whoopee cushion. He holds it up with a grin.
Sam just rolls his eyes and walks off, but Dean nods his head happily. Oh yeah, he’s buying it.
They continue to look around the store and the owner walks out.
“Welcome to The Conjurarium,” he says, somewhat bored sounding. “Sanctum of magic and mystery.”
“You the owner?” Sam asks.
“Yep.” He meets them at the cash register.
“You sold any itching power or joy buzzers lately?” Dean asks.
“Yeah,” the owner answers with a dry laugh. “Grand total, one of each. They aren’t exactly big ticket items. You boys here to buy something, or what?”
Right. Dean pulls out his money and buys the woopee cushion.
“So, you get many customers?” Sam asks.
“Kids come in. They don’t buy much, but they’re more than happy to break stuff.” Wearily, he adds, “These days, all they care about are iphones and those kissing vampire movies. All those things makes me just--”
“Angry?” Dean offers.
The man thinks about it. “Yeah, yeah I am angry. This shop has been my life for 20 years, and now it’s wasting away to nothing!”
“Which is why you hate them.”
“I suppose.”
Dean gives Sam a triumphant look, then adds, “You wish there was something you could do about it.”
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
“So you’re taking revenge,” Dean answers, grabbing a rubber chicken off a nearby display. He slaps it on the counter and holds up the buzzer. “With this.” He touches it to the rubber chicken, which is electrocuted into a melted fried mess on the counter.
The shop owner shouts in horrified surprise and jumps back, muttering to himself in shock.
Sam’s eyes widen. “Yeah, something tells me this guy’s not a powerful witch.”
“Sorry,” Dean quickly tries to make up for scaring the guy. “Sorry.”
He and Sam hurry out as the poor man behind the counter is still gasping in shock.
~*~*~
A father holds up his daughter’s tooth, sitting by her bedside and explaining, “I’ll just slip this under your pillow, and while you’re sleeping the Tooth Fairy will float down and swap it for a quarter.”
“So some freak is gonna come in my room while I’m sleeping and take my tooth?” the little girl asks, teddy in hand. “Sounds scary. No thank you.”
Her dad smiles. “Come on.” He tucks her in, kissing her goodnight. “Goodnight, sweetie.” He leaves, turning off the light. A fairy hanging from the ceiling begins to turn.
Sneaking into her dad’s bedroom while he’s sleeping, the little girl carefully lifts the pillow and puts her tooth under it then sneaks out. Her dad turns over in his sleep as a huge shadow passes his window. His daughter left his door open.
He shifts again in his sleep, and suddenly a hand clamps down on his mouth. His eyes open in surprise, and the scariest looking guy-with-fairy-wings Tooth Fairy gruffly warns, “Hold still. You might feel just a little…pinch.”
The man starts screaming as the shadow on the wall reveals the huge pliers the “Tooth Fairy” is using to pull out each of his teeth.
~*~*~
Sam leaves the poor man’s hospital room to find his brother in the hallway flirting with a nurse.
“Well I appreciate that, Nurse—“ Dean checks her nametag. “Freemont.”
“Please, call me Jen.”
“Well, Jen it is.”
Sam clears his throat and the nurse leaves.
“What’s up with toothless?” Dean asks, joining his brother. “Cavity creeps get a hold of him?”
“Yeah, close.” Sam looks at his notepad. “He wrote up a description. 5’10”, 350 pounds…wings and a pink tutu. Said it was the Tooth Fairy.”
“So he’s obviously wacked out on painkillers,” Dean answers.
“Maybe, whatever it was got past locked doors and windows without triggering the alarm.”
“Come on, the Tooth Fairy?”
“And, it left 32 quarters underneath his pillow,” Sam answers. “One for each tooth.”
Dean thinks about this a moment, then says, “Well, I will see your crazy and raise you some. There’s a couple of kids upstairs with stomach ulcers, say they got it from mixing Poprocks and coke. Another guy, his…face froze that way.”
Sam frowns at his brother. “What way?”
Dean looks around the hallway to make sure no one is watching, then puts his hands in his mouth, pulls back his cheeks and crosses his eyes.
“He uh, held it too long and it stuck,” he says. “They’re flying in a plastic surgeon.” Dean works his mouth. Nope, still okay.
“So, I mean if you add all that up…” Sam hesitates, tries to think of something, then finally admits, “I got nothing.”
They start down the hallway, and Dean says, “I thought sea monkeys were real.”
“They are. They’re brine shrimp.”
“No, no, no, I mean like in the adds,” he brother answers. “You know, like the seam monkey wife cooks the potroast for the sea monkey husband, and the sea monkey kids play with the dog in the sea monkey castle—real. I mean I was six, but I believed it.”
“Okay…” Sam still doesn’t know where he’s going with this.
“The point is,” Dean says, stopping. “Maybe that’s the connection.” At Sam’s confused look, he adds, “The Tooth Fairy, the Poprocks and coke, the joy buzzer that shocks you, they’re all lies that kids believe.”
“And now they’re coming true,” Sam answers, the realization dawning on his face. “Okay, so whatever’s doing this is reshaping reality. Has the powers of a god, or—“ Sam rolls his eyes, another thought coming to mind. “The Trickster.”
Dean agrees. “The sense of humor of a nine-year-old.”
Sam thinks a second, then adds, “Or you.” He turns to head down the corridor, leaving Dean to make a face. Clearly his brother doesn’t agree.
~*~*~
Back at the hotel, Dean is still trying to eat all the ham. This time, he’s gone for it in sandwich form. Sam opens the door, map in hand, and spots his brother.
“Dude, seriously. Still with the ham.”
“We don’t have a fridge,” Dean answers around a mouthful of ham.
“Well, here,” Sam answers, closing the door and setting the map down on the table in front of his brother. Dean stands up to get a better look as Sam explains, “The Tooth Fairy attack was here—“ he points to a red X on the map, then to others. “Poprocks and coke was here, then you’ve got itching powder, face-freeze, and joy buzzer, all located within a two mile radius.”
“So we got a blast zone of weird and inside fantasy becomes reality.”
Sam nods. “Looks like.”
“And what’s the A-bomb at center?”
“Four acres of farmland and a house.”
Dean considers this a second, then asks, “Our motel isn’t in that circle by any chance…”
“Yeah, why?”
Wordlessly, Dean hold up his hand for his brother to see...
“Ugh, dude—“ Sam grimaces and looks away. “Th—that’s not what I think it is, is it?”
“I got bored...That nurse was hot.”
Sam’s still trying not to be disgusted, eyes still closed. Finally, he manages to open his eyes to answer, “You know, you can go blind from that too.”
“Give me five minutes, we’ll go check out that house.”
Dean starts to head for the bathroom, and Sam suddenly says, “Hey, do NOT use my razor.”
Dean smirks and goes into the bathroom.
~*~*~
Back in their suits, Sam and Dean get out of the Impala and walk across the street to the lone farmhouse. As they walk up the stairs, Dean checks his knife and Sam pulls out the lock-picking kit. He bends down to start picking the lock, when the door suddenly opens. He quickly pulls pull as a little boy answers the door.
“Can I help you?”
“Hi,” Sam says in the voice grownups reserve for kids. “Uh, what’s your name?”
The little boy looks between Sam and Dean and asks, “Who wants to know?”
Dean glances at his brother as they both reach for their badges. “The uh, FBI,” he answers, holding the badge out for the kid to see.
“Let me see that.” The boy takes the badge, studies it, then asks, “So, what? You guys don’t knock?”
Sam and Dean just stare at him a second, then Dean asks, “Are your parents home?”
“They work.”
“Well, you mind if we ask a few questions?” Sam asks. “Maybe take a look around the house?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, you can trust us,” Dean answers with a smile, holding up his badge. “We’re the authorities.”
The boy doesn’t look too convinced, but finally lets them in anyway. He heads into the kitchen where a pan is on the stove. He goes over to turn down the heat as Sam asks, “What’s that?”
“It’s called soup,” the boy answers, taking it off the stove. “You heat it up and you eat it.”
Okay…”Right,” Sam answers. “I know, it’s just um…”
Dean looks away trying to hide a smile.
“I used to make my own dinner too,” Sam says. “When I was a kid.”
“Well I’m not a kid,” the boy answers simply.
“Right, no I know,” Sam answers, then changes his approach, holding out his hand. “I’m Robert, by the way.”
“Jesse,” the boy answers, taking his hand.
“Jesse? Nice to meet you.”
Dean takes a picture off the fridge and holds it up. “You draw this?”
Jesse nods. “It’s the Tooth Fairy.”
Dean turns the picture around to look at the bearded man in the tutu. “That’s what you think the Tooth Fairy looks like, huh?”
“Yeah, my dad told me about him.”
“Huh.”
“What, didn’t your dad tell you about the Tooth Fairy?”
Sam kind of shrugs, and Dean just answers, “My dad?” He lets out a soft laugh. “Naw, my dad told me different stories.”
“Well, the Tooth Fairy isn’t a story,” Jesse answers seriously.
Dean looks at Sam, then asks, “What do you know about itching powder, Jesse?”
“That stuff’ll make you scratch your brains out.”
“Poprocks and coke?”
“You mix them and you’ll end up in the hospital. Everyone knows that.”
Now it’s all starting to make sense. Dean pulls out the joy buzzer.
“You shouldn’t have that,” Jesse tells him, eyeing the toy.
“Why not?”
“It can electrocute you.”
“Actually it can’t,” Dean tells him. “It’s just a windup toy. It’s totally harmless, it doesn’t even have batteries.”
Jesse frowns at him. “So it can’t shock you?”
“Nope, not at all,” Dean answers. “I swear.”
Jesse glances down at the buzzer and answers, “Oh…okay.”
“I mean, all it does is just shake in your hand,” Dean tells him. “It’s kinda lame. See?” Without warning, Dean presses the joy buzzer up to Sam’s chest. Sam jumps, expecting the same thing that happened to the ham, but is just buzzed instead.
Jesse smiles. Sam gives his brother an ‘I can’t believe you just did that!’ look as he catches his breath. Dean simply turns and asks, “What’d you say your name was again?”
~*~*~
Sam is still reeling from the joy buzzer as they walk out of the house.
“Dude, what the hell?”
“I had a hunch, I went with it.”
“You risked my ass on a hunch?”
“You’re fine,” Dean answers as they head for the car. “Besides, now we know who’s turned this town into Willy Wonka’s worst nightmare.”
“The kid.”
“Yeah, everything Jesse believes comes true. He thinks the Tooth Fairy looks like Belushi, uh joy buzzers shock people, boom, that’s what happens.”
“Yeah but convince him that joy buzzers don’t actually work, and they go from killing machines back to crap toys.”
“He probably doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.” Dean turns to wave at Jesse as the boy looks out the window at him. “How is he doing it?”
They head for the car as Jesse watches them go then closes the curtains.
~*~*~
“So,” Sam says, opening the door and joining his brother back at the motel. “I dug up what I could on Jesse Turner. It’s not much,” he tells Dean who’s sitting on the bed reading something. “A B student, won last year’s Pinewood Derby, but get this. Jesse was adopted. His birth records are sealed.”
“So you unsealed them, and?”
“There’s no father listed. But Jesse’s mom is named Julia Wright. She lives in Elk Creek on the other side of the state.”
Dean closes the book and tosses it to the bed. Looks like they’re going to Elk Creek.
~*~*~
Elk Creek, NE
Sam and Dean walk through an old rusty gate labeled with a hand sign painted, “No Trespassing”. They walk through the farmhouse yard to the front, up the stairs to ring the doorbell.
“Whatever your sellin’ I’m not interested,” a woman calls out.
“We’re not salesmen,” Dean answers. “Agents Page and Plant, FBI.” He and Sam pull out their badges and hold them up to the peephole.
“Put your badge into the slot,” the woman answers. “You partner’s too.”
Dean pushes them through the metal mail slot. A series of unlocking locks is heard, and finally a blond woman opens the door and hands back their badges. “What do you want?”
“Um, we just had a few questions,” Sam answers as they put their badges away. “About your son.”
“I don’t have a son,” the woman insists.
“He was born March 29, 1998 in Omaha,” Sam answers. “You put him up for adoption?”
Julia shifts uncomfortably then asks, “What about him?”
“We were just wondering, um, was it—was it a normal pregnancy?”
“Was there anything strange?” Dean adds, and suddenly Julia shoves the door in front of her, shouting, “Stay away from me!”
“Wait!” They grab the door and hurry after her.
Julia runs through the house and into the kitchen, trying to slam the door on Sam and Dean.
“We just want to talk!” Dean tries, catching the door.
Julia rushes over to a container of salt and rips it open, spinning around to throw it at them. Most of it hits Sam in the chest, and they both just look at it, confused.
“You’re not demons?” the woman asks, surprised.
Dean looks up at her. “How do you know about demons?”
~*~*~
Julia sits at the table, setting a teacup down on a matching plate. “I was possessed,” she tells Sam and Dean. “A demon took control of my body and I hurt people…I killed people.”
“That wasn’t you,” Sam says softly, but she still feels guilty.
“But I was there. I heard a woman beg for mercy, I felt a young girl’s blood drip down my hands…”
“That’s how you knew about the salt,” Dean answers.
“Yeah I picked up tricks. It was in my head for months.”
“How many months?”
She looks up at them. “Nine.”
Sam and Dean share a look. Not good.
“So, you’re son… “ Sam prompts, and Julia continues.
“The whole time. The pregnancy, birth, all of it…I was possessed.” She remembers the horrible night of her son’s birth as she tells them, “The night the baby was born, I was alone. And the pain was overwhelming. I screamed and it came out a laugh. The demon was happy…It used my body to give birth to a child…When it was over, something changed. Maybe the-the demon was tired or if the pain helped me fight it, but…somehow I took control. The demon wailed inside me, it pounded against my skull, I thought my head was gonna explode…But, I knew. I knew what I had to do.”
In her flashback, she jumps to her feet, pouring handfuls of rock salt into her mouth. The demon flees.
“And when I was alone,” she continues. “The baby, part of me, part of me wanted to kill it. But God help me, I couldn’t do that. So I put it up for adoption and I ran.”
Dean studies her a moment, then asks, “Who was the father?”
“I was a virgin.”
Sam and Dean look at each other. Yep, definitely not good.
“Have you seen my son? Is he human?”
“His name is Jesse,” Dean answers softly. “He lives in, uh, Alliance. He’s a good kid.”
Julia nods with a relieved sigh.
~*~*~
As they leave the house, Sam sighs. “So now what?”
“We need help.”
~*~*~
They make it back to the hotel by night, and find Cas standing in the room.
“I take it you got our message?” Sam asks wearily, sitting down at the table.
“It’s lucky you found the boy,” Cas answers.
“Oh yeah, real lucky,” Dean answers. “Now what do we do with him?”
“Kill him.”
Both boys freeze. Surely he’s not serious.
After a long moment, Dean finally says, “Cas…”
“This child is half demon and half human, but he’s far more powerful than either.” The angel steps toward the table, explaining, “Other cultures call this hybrid Cambion or Catego.” He pauses. “You know him as the Antichrist.”
Cas sits down in the chair opposite Sam and the whoopee cushion makes a long loud noise. Sam and Dean look at each other, and Cas simply answers, “That wasn’t me.” He holds up the whoopee cushion.
“Who put that there?” Dean asks, and Sam quickly gets them back on track.
“Anyway, I don’t get it. Jesse’s the Devil’s son?”
“No, of course not,” Cas answers with a sigh. “Your Bible gets more wrong than it does right. The Antichrist is not Lucifer’s child, it’s just demon spawn. But it is one of the Devil’s greatest weapons in the war against Heaven.”
“Well then if Jesse’s a demonic howitzer, then what the hell’s he doin’ in Nebraska?” Dean asks.
“The demons lost him. They can’t find him, but they’re looking.”
“And they lost him because…?”
“Because of the child’s power,” Cas answers. “It hides him from both angels and demons. For now.”
“So he’s got like a force field around him,” Dean says, trying to figure this all out. “Well that’s great, problem’s solved.”
“With Lucifer risen this child grows strong,” Cas warns. “Soon he’ll do more than just make a few toys come to life. Something, that will draw the demons to him. The demons will find this child. Lucifer will twist this boy to his purpose, and then with a word, this CHILD will destroy the host of Heaven.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, you’re saying that—that Jesse’s gonna nuke the angels?” Dean asks.
“We cannot allow that happen,” Cas answers, glancing between the brothers and sitting back.
“Wait,” Sam says, getting to his feet. “We’re the good guys, we don’t just kill children.”
Cas gets up too. “A year ago you would have done whatever it took to win this war.”
“Things change,” Sam answers, and sensing the building tension, Dean quickly steps between them.
“Okay,” he assures Sam, then tells Cas, “Hey look, we are not going to kill him, alright? But we can’t leave Jesse here either. We know that. So we’ll take him to Bobby’s, he’ll know what to do.”
“You’ll kidnap him,” Cas answers, and when Dean glances at Sam, he adds, “What is going on in this town is what happens when this thing is happy. You cannot imagine what it will do if it’s angry. Besides, how will you hold him? With a thought he could be halfway around the world.”
“So we—“
“So we tell him the truth,” Sam interrupts his brother. “You say Jesse is destined to go darkside, fine, but he hasn’t yet. So if we lay it out for him, what he is, the Apocalypse, everything, he might make the right choice.”
Cas stares at the intense look on Sam’s face a moment, then answers, “You didn’t.”
Ouch. Sam doesn’t answer, breathing hard.
Leaning forward, Cas strongly adds, “And I can’t take that chance.”
As Cas and Sam continue to stare down each other, Dean lowers his head. He can’t argue this time. Cas flutters off and Sam curses.
~*~*~
Julia is locking her many locks on her door as she gets ready to leave. Suddenly a man appears behind her and she jumps, scared.
“Oh! Sorry, sorry.”
“It’s no worries, you okay?” the man asks kindly.
“Yeah,” she answers with a relieved smile. “It’s just, today a little…shaky.”
“Ah well, talkin’ to the Winchesters’ll do that to you.”
Julia’s smile falls as the man pushes her against the door. “Don’t you recognize me, sweetie?” His eyes go black. “We had so many great times together, didn’t we?” He leans forward. “And then you stole something from us. Hid it away, that was very very naughty of you. So we watched and we waited, and now? They told you where he is, didn’t they?” Leaning in, he whispers, “I think it’s time we go and visit our son.”
Forcing her mouth open, the demon smokes in, his old meat suit falling to the floor. The demon flexes Julia’s jaw then walks off.
~*~*~
Jesse is getting a glass of water when Cas suddenly steps in front of him. Startled, the boy drops his glass, shattering it on the floor.
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”
Jesse slowly backs up as Cas walks towards him, knife behind his back.
Scared, Jesse shouts, “Mom! Dad!”
“Your mother and father are sleeping. I assure you they won’t wake until morning.”
Cas stops now that he has Jesse cornered. He stares at the boy a long moment, then says, “I’m sorry.”
Cas brings up the knife just as Sam and Dean bust the door down. They rush over and Dean asks, “Was there a guy here? In a trenchcoat?”
Jesse points down and they look down to find Cas as an action figure.
Dean picks him up and glances from him to Sam to Jesse. Now what?
~*~*~
In the living room, Dean places Cas carefully on the mantle as Jesse asks, “Was he your friend?”
“Him? No.”
“I did that,” Jesse says, looking at the action figure from the couch. Sam sits nearby in a chair as Jesse asks, “But how did I do that?”
“You’re a superhero,” Dean answers.
“I am?”
“Yeah! Yeah I mean who else can turn someone into a toy?” Dean answers. “You’re Superman—minus the cape and the go-go boots.”
Jesse doesn’t smile, and Dean kneels down in front of him.
“See my partner and I, we work for a secret government agency. It’s our job to find kids with special powers . In fact, we’re here to take you to a hidden base in South Dakota where you’ll be trained to fight evil.”
“Like the X-men?”
“Exactly like the X-men!” Dean grins, standing up. “In fact the guy we’re taking you to? He’s even in a wheelchair.”
Jesse smiles, as Dean continues, “You’ll be a hero. You’ll can save lives, you’ll get the girl. Sounds like fun, right?”
Before Jesse can answer, Dean is suddenly thrown back across the room and pinned to the wall. Jesse turns to find the demon masquerading as his mom walk in. “They’re lying to you.”
Sam jumps up, but with a lazy swish of her hand he pins him to the wall next to Dean.
“Say right there, dream boat,” she tells him. “Can’t hurt you. Orders.” She turns to Dean. “You on the other hand? Hurting you’s encouraged.” She raises her hand and with two quick flicks sends Dean slamming into the other wall and back.
“Leave him alone!” Jesse shouts and she turns her attention to him.
“Jesse, you’re beautiful.” She bends down to get a better look at him. “You have your father’s eyes.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m your mother.”
“No you’re not.”
“Uh-huh. You’re half human, half one of us.”
“She means demons, Jesse,” Dean manages to grunt, and she lifts a fist, squeezing as if she was squeezing his neck. Dean grimaces in pain.
“Thos people you call your parents?” she tells Jesse. “They lied to you too, you’re not theirs. Not really.”
Jesse frowns. “My mom and dad love me.”
“Do they? Is that why they leave you alone all day, because they love you so much?”
Dean tries to talk, but can’t.
“These people, these imposters, they told you that the Tooth Fairy was real, and that your toys could hurt you, and a hundred other things that aren’t true. They love you so much,” she adds, getting meaner. “They made your whole life a lie.”
Jesse’s starting to doubt himself.
“Look into your heart, Jesse. You’ve always known you weren’t theirs, you’ve always known you were different. Everyone has lied to you.” She nods to Sam and Dean. “They’re not FBI agents. And you’re not a superhero.”
Sam swallows hard and Dean grunts, still trying to pull out of the demon’s grip.
“Then what am I?” Jesse asks, and the demon smiles.
“You’re powerful. You can have anything you want, you can do ANYTHING you want.”
“Don’t listen to her Jesse!” Dean shouts, managing to regain control of his mouth for a short time before she snaps it shut again.
“They treated you like a child, nobody trusted you, everybody lied to you,” she insists. “Doesn’t that make you angry?”
Jesse’s fists suddenly clench and the fire roars in the fireplace. The lights in the house start going crazy. The demon smiles.
“See? It does make you angry.” As the house begins to shake, she adds, “But I’m telling you the truth. Wouldn’t it be better if there were no lies? Come with me and we can wash it all clean, start all over.”
Glass is beginning to break now, plaster falling from the walls.
“Imagine that. A world without lies.”
Jesse’s family picture falls off the wall and shatters. A crack splits up the wall between Sam and Dean.
“She’s right,” Sam finally manages to say. “We lied to you, but I’ll tell you the tru—“
The demon turns to begin cutting off his air supply again, and Sam gasps for air. It gets worse and Jesse finally says, “Stop it.”
Sam immediately drops to the floor.
“I want to hear what he has to say.”
“You’re stronger that I thought,” the demon answers, glancing between him and Sam.
Catching his breath, Sam carefully stands up and tells Jesse, “We lied to you, and I’m sorry. So here’s the truth. I’m Sam Winchester, that’s my brother, Dean. We hunt monsters.”
“Except when you are the monster,” the demon interrupts with an evil grin. “Right, Sammy?”
“And that woman right there? Her name is Julia,” Sam continues. “She’s your mother, but that thing inside of her, the thing that you’re talking to, it’s a demon.”
“A demon?”
“He’s done nothing but lie to you since the moment you met him, don’t listen to him!” She turns to Sam. “Punish him.”
“Sit down and shut up,” Jesse answers, and suddenly a chair scoots across the room, forcing the demon to sit. She tries moving her hands and mouth, but it’s no use.
Sam glances at her with a worried expression, knowing he’s got to tread very carefully here, and says, “There’s, uh, kind of a—a war between angels and demons and…you’re a part of it.”
“I’m just a kid.”
“You can go with her if you want, I can’t stop you, no one can. But if you do, millions of people will die.”
“She said I was half demon. Is that true?”
“Yes,” Sam answers. “But you’re half human too. You can do the right thing. You’ve got choices Jesse, but if you make the wrong ones, it’ll haunt you for the rest of your life.”
Starting to cry, Jesse asks, “Why are you telling me this?!”
“Because I have to believe someone can make the right choice,” Sam says, swallowing hard. “Even if I couldn’t.”
Jesse stares at him a moment, then clenches his fists. Turning to the demon, he demands, “Get out of her.”
The chair flies back with Julia as the demon smoke is forced out and up the chimney. Jesse’s eyes wide as he watches it go. Dean is finally released from the wall. Struggling for breath he looks at Jesse.
“How did you do that?”
Jesse shrugs. “I just did.”
“Kid,” Dean says, still trying to breathe. “You’re awesome.” He lets out a noise of pain and leans back against the wall.
~*~*~
Jesse looks from his mother in the chair to Dean and asks, “Is she gonna be alright?”
Dean looks at Julia then nods. “Eventually.” He bends down to pick Cas up from the floor, and adds, “Look, uh, truth is, he’s kind of a buddy of mine, is there any way you could turn him back?”
“He tried to kill me!”
“Right, uh, but he’s a—he’s a good guy, he was just confused.” When Jesse doesn’t answer, Dean adds, “Okay it’s been a long night, we’ll talk about it later.” He carefully sets Cas back on the mantel.
“What now?” Jesse asks.
Dean looks at Sam, then turns back to Jesse and answers, “Now we take you someplace safe, get you trained up. You’d be handy in a fight kid.”
“What if I don’t want to fight?”
“Jesse…” Sam walks over to kneel in front of him and sighs. “You’re powerful. More powerful than pretty much anything we’ve ever seen. That makes you—“
“A freak?”
Sam knows the feeling all too well. “To some people maybe,” he answers softly. “But not to us. See, we’re kinda freaks ourselves.”
“I can’t stay here, can I?”
“No,” Dean answers. “The demons know where you are, more will be coming.”
Jesse looks between them, then answers, “I won’t go without my mom and dad.”
Sam glances at his brother and answers, “There’s nothing more important that family. We get that. And if you really want to take them with you, we’ll back your play. But you gotta understand, it’s gonna be dangerous for them too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our dad? He’d take us with him wherever he went,” Dean answers.
“Where is he now?”
“Dead,” Sam answers, and Jesse turns to look at him. “A demon killed him.”
“Jesse,” Dean tells him as the little boy swallows hard. He gets down to Jesse's eye level to explain, “Once you’re in this fight…you’re in it till the end. Win or lose.”
“What should I do?” Jesse asks, looking between them.
“We can’t tell you,” Sam answers. “It’s your choice. It’s not fair, I know.”
“Can I go see my parents?” Jesse asks. “I um…I need to…say goodbye.”
“Sure,” Dean tells him, and Jesse heads upstairs.
He walks through the darkened hallway to his parents room, opens the door to take one last look at them sleeping peacefully, then closes the door. He goes to his own room and closes the door, laying down on his bed. He sits up to look at the big picture of Australia on his wall…
~*~*~
Downstairs, Sam puts Cas back on the mantel as Dean walks over to say, “He’s been up there a long time.”
Realizing this could be bad, they both head upstairs.
They open the door to Jesse’s room and step in just as Cas appears behind them. “He’s gone.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. Jesse put everyone in town back to normal,” Cas tells them. “The ones still alive. Then he vanished.”
Sam turns to find a note on Jesse’s bed. “Hey.” He picks it up.
“What’s it say?” Dean asks, and Sam opens the note.
“That he had to leave to keep his parents safe. That he loves them and he’s sorry.”
Sam closes the note and after a moment, Dean asks Cas, “How do we find him?”
“With the boy’s powers we can’t. Not unless he wants to be found.”
~*~*~
Driving out of town, Dean asks, “You think Jesse’s gonna be okay?”
“I hope so,” Sam answers with a sigh.
“You know we destroyed that kid’s life by telling him the truth,” Dean says grimly.
A police car rushes by with its lights on.
“We didn’t have a choice, Dean.”
“Yeah…you know I’m startin’ to get why parents lie to their kids.” He pauses. “You know, you want ‘em to believe that the worse thing out there is mixin’ poprocks and coke, protect ‘em from the real evil. You want ‘em going to bed feelin’ safe. If that means lyin’ to them, so be it.” They drive a second then Dean adds, “The more I think about it, the more I wish died had lied more to us.”
Grimly, Sam answers, “Yeah, me too.”
They drive on.
Once again Supernatural is a master and making us laugh and then doing a complete 180 into the serious. Dean and the ham? Sam and the joy buzzer? Cas and the whoopee cushion? Love it! And poor Sam. It's like he's seeing himself all over again.
Oh, by the way, where can I get a Castiel action figure? 
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