Broken: Battles, Supernatural, NC-17
Jul. 3rd, 2008 12:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
phantismaFandom: Supernatural
Title: Battles, Part One; A Broken Sequel (all Broken here
Pairings/Characters: Sam/Dean, Gabe (OMC)/Caleb, John, Bobby, Pastor Jim, OMCs
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: (this part) 3023
Summary: Several months after Out of the Dark, Sam is trying to control his new-found powers, Dean is struggling to find his footing, John is spiraling deeper into depression left behind after his ordeal, Gabe is trying to piece together the strange reports of supernatural activity and recover from his own injuries and all around them the supernatural world is closing in.
A/Ns & Warnings: Offered up for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
varkelton on the occassion of her birthday. This is the first part to a possibly three to four part arc that I will hopefully get finished before my surgery. This is Broken, so there will be memory of rape and torture, these characters are far from whole, though progress has been made. There will be brother/brother incest as well as other sexual content, though in this section it's only Gabe/Caleb.
“Hurry.” Gabe whispered.
Caleb didn’t answer with words, just worked harder at his task. He could hear the footsteps too. He moved one hand to cup and caress Gabe’s balls while he sucked. It was his stupid mouth that got him into it. It would be his mouth that got him back out.
“He’s almost here.” Gabe said, thrusting up into Caleb’s mouth.
Caleb swallowed and hummed and tried every trick he knew to get Gabe to orgasm, and just when he thought they’d be caught at it, Gabe sputtered and grabbed his head with his good hand, coming quickly.
Allen was almost to the door when Caleb tucked Gabe in and dashed for the bathroom to rinse out his mouth. He shouldn’t let Gabe goad him into stupid games the way he did. He was old enough to know better.
The door to the room opened and he heard Gabe sputter a greeting.
“Brought dinner.” Allen said.
Caleb emerged from the bathroom, wiping his mouth. Gabe had gotten himself turned back toward the computer and was looking like he was busily working on something.
Allen set down bags of take out, his eyes wandering between his son and Caleb. Caleb cleared his throat. “Gabe thinks he found something.”
Allen’s eyebrow raised almost to his hairline, but he took the hint as he started pulling food out of bags. “Whatcha got?”
“Pattern.” Gabe said, his forehead wrinkling as he leaned in to the computer screen. “All the weird shit, like trails, all converging on Laramie.”
“As in, Wyoming?”
Gabe nodded, reaching for the fried rice his father was handing him. “Yeah, and the closer you get, the nastier it gets.” He shoveled rice into his mouth and pointed. “Look, it’s coming down from the north, a trail of hauntings gone seriously bad, demon possession, raw heads, werewolves, spectrals, hellhounds. Then there’s the reports of Fae.”
Allen stopped what he was doing and stared at Gabe. “Fae. As in Fairies?”
Gabe nodded as he chewed. “Spotted and reported all along here.” He pointed out an arc of land west and north of Laramie. He flipped screens to a picture. “Dancy sent me these.” Tall, fierce looking men and women with large dogs could be glimpsed among the redwood trees.
“I’ll be damned.” Allen passed a container of chow mein to Caleb. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.”
“Whatever it is, this has to be serious if it’s bringing out the Fae.” Caleb said, peering over Gabe’s shoulder. “There hasn’t been a serious sighting of them in nearly 200 years.”
Allen was nodding. “Have you sent this to Sam yet?”
Gabe shook his head. “I want to finish my analysis. I’ll send it in the morning.”
“We’re heading out to the Roadhouse to meet up with Bobby and Joe.” Allan took his box of sweet and sour pork and sat on the bed he’d claimed the night before. “Ellen’s found more of Ash’s old things she wants you to look at.”
Gabe looked up at his father, then to Caleb and back again. “Don’t even think it.”
Caleb sighed and touched his shoulder. “Easy.”
“No.” Gabe stood, pulling away. He hobbled toward the door. “You are not leaving me there while you go off to help Sam.”
“Gabe, you’re still hurt.” Caleb tried, glancing at Allen and willing him to stay out of the argument for once. Gabe always felt like he had to fight harder when Allen got in the middle. “You can barely walk, your arm is still healing.” Caleb moved closer and this time Gabe didn’t pull away. “Rules, remember.” Caleb whispered so that only Gabe could hear.
Gabe’s face was set and hard. “I know rules.” Gabe bit the words out. Then he turned to look Caleb in the eye. He was furious, but starting to soften.
Caleb kissed his cheek. “I don’t want to see you get hurt again.” He knew Allen was uncomfortable, but he slipped his arms around Gabe and pulled him close. “What would I do without you?”
Gabe melted a little then, sagging against his arms. “You know payback’s a bitch.”
“With teeth.” Caleb breathed into his ear.
The breeze was warm as Dean leaned against the hood of the Impala, watching Sam. He couldn’t say he was comfortable with this. The whole thing made him uneasy.
Not Sam. Not even the idea of Sam’s…well, he didn’t know what to call them. Powers? Sounded to dorky. Gifts? That remained to be seen. But this guy helping Sam figure them out and the things he said Sam was capable of…that was what made Dean wonder.
But, that was why they were here, with Derrik somebody-or-other that Sam had met through an old friend of their father’s when they last went through Kansas. Supposedly he could help Sam get a handle on it.
Sam still had a tendency to coddle him, so he wasn’t really sure he still had the whole story. And he had unexpected moments when the programming grabbed him. But, he remembered. Just about everything.
There were holes, which they figured had something to do with the drugs they fed him those first awful months. But he remembered getting drunk, and getting grabbed. He remembered the first dark days, locked in the cage, in the restraints with no food or water, no light, no sound. He remembered the rape and beatings. He remembered Sam coming to buy him and the confusion of trying to be Dean again, when all he remembered how to be was Nothing, No one, Alone.
Sam was sweating, but not moving. His eyes were closed. Dean sighed and turned away. He didn’t really want to be here, but he didn’t want to be left alone either. And since they’d dropped their father off at Bobby’s a few days before that’s all that was really left to him.
Sam called this training. Trouble was Dean wasn’t sure what he was training for. What he did know was that Sam said something was coming. Something big. He’d been saying it for months.
He wanted a beer. They were in the middle of nowhere though, the nearest bar almost forty-five minutes away. He sighed and opened the back door of the Impala. Before he’d even gotten his ass on the seat though he heard the rumble of an engine. He turned down the dusty road that led in off the road. It wasn’t quite dark as a dusty blue truck rumbled to a stop beside him.
Pastor Jim looked worn and tired as he got out of the truck, holding his hands up to ward of the argument already lashing out at him from Sam, who was suddenly on his feet and stalking toward the priest. “Sam, calm down.”
“I told you the last time I saw you that I wanted nothing to do with your little cabal.”
“Sam, let me—“
“Did they send you in to placate me while they circle around and cut us off?”
Jim shook his head. “They don’t know I’m here. I’m here for you, Sam. You and Dean.”
Sam spared a glance at Dean, who took a few steps closer, moving so his shoulder was between Sam and Jim. “What’s going on Sam?”
“Remember Des Moines, Dean? After we left Missouri’s. Those were his goons.”
“Not mine Sam.”
“The whack jobs that tried to kill us?” Dean remembered that very clearly. Five priests plus muscle, calling Sam the anti-christ. He scowled at Jim. “What’s this about?”
“He works for an organization.” Sam said, practically vibrating with anger. “They try to control people like me, and when they can’t, they kill them.”
“Sam, please.”
Sam crossed his arms and stood quiet while Jim fidgeted.
“I’d like the chance to explain.” Jim said finally, glancing at Dean, then Sam. “But not here. Can we go somewhere?”
Sam squinted at the older man, then seemed to soften. “Yeah, okay. Give us a minute.”
Sam dragged Dean away, out of ear shot. He sighed. “He’s telling the truth, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t followed. We need to be careful.”
“Okay. What about him?” Dean looked to Derrick.
“I was just about done with him anyway. “ Sam pulled a hand through his hair and sighed again.
“You look tired.” Dean said, touching his elbow. “You should sleep.”
Sam smiled weakly. “I will Dean. Tonight. Let’s just deal with this first.”
“Why don’t you go back to the motel. I’ll take a ride with Pastor Jim, get the story.” Sam’s eyes were hazy and now that the anger had drained away, he looked like he was going to fall asleep standing.
Still, Sam shook his head. “No…I need to hear it.”
Dean shook his head in frustration. “Then let’s get it done before you pass out on me.”
“Huh.” Gabe chewed at his lip as he parsed through the results of his last calculation. He reached for his coffee cup, but it was empty.
“Gabe?” Caleb was squinting at him from the bed nearest the door. Gabe went for the cooler near the door and pulled out a soda, stopping to kiss Caleb’s forehead before going back to the computer. Caleb sat up and reached for him, sighing when he missed. “It’s almost morning. Come to bed.”
Gabe shook his head. “Got more stuff to plug in, emails from Bobby and Emily and the stuff I got from Megan.”
Caleb was up and standing behind him, his hands rubbing at Gabe’s shoulders. “Your arm is never going to finish healing if you don’t stop using it. You heard what the doctor told you.”
Gabe made a face and rubbed his good hand over the smaller, lighter cast that had only just replaced the one that had immobilized his arm from shoulder to fingertips. “It’s fine. Mostly use my other hand.”
Caleb sighed and leaned in, resting his head on Gabe’s. “You’re still mad at me.”
He was, but that wasn’t why he was still up. Well, maybe it was…a little. It was a small rebellion, proof that he wasn’t a child. Which was silly and childish, but for the moment, with his physical condition, it was the best he had.
“Come to bed.” Caleb whispered in his ear, his hands rubbing over Gabe’s shoulders and down on to his arms.
Gabe felt the words all the way down into his belly, his cock stirring as if they could do anything with his father asleep in the next bed. “Yeah, okay. Let me just send the bundle to Sam.”
He zipped up the files and sent it all out Sam before he closed his laptop and let Caleb lead him to the bed. He was tired. It had been a long couple of days. He sat on the bed and Caleb handed him a glass of water and two pills. He started to shake his head, but Caleb clearly wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “I know you’re hurting Gabe, I can tell. Take the pills, get some sleep.”
Gabe sighed and conceded, swallowing down the pills and letting Caleb tuck him in before he moved around to the other side of the bed and crawled in. Gabe rolled toward him, his casted arm laying across Caleb’s chest as he closed his eyes and settled in to sleep.
Sam was exhausted as he pulled himself into the diner. Dean was watching him wearily, watching and not happy about it. Jim was already sitting at a booth. Sam stopped at the door, holding his head. It was pounding again. He’d over exerted himself.
He wouldn’t mind it, if he were getting anything resembling control. He’d learned little things, but he’d be lying if he said he knew how to keep himself from exploding. He was holding on, but only barely, and he knew it.
Jim looked up as they approached and Sam slid into the booth, grateful for the cup of coffee already steaming in front of him. Dean slid in beside him, one hand landing protectively on Sam’s thigh.
“You look like shit, Sam.” Jim said, sipping at his own coffee.
“Tired.” Sam said before he squinted up at Jim. There was something different about him, sad…a little lost. Jim cleared his throat and distracted Sam from digging for it.
“Derrick Mains is good at what he does, but he’s not helping you. He can’t help you.”
Sam wanted to be angry, wanted to tell the priest to fuck off, but he was right. “I know. It was worth a shot.”
Jim pressed his lips together and nodded. “How’s your head?”
Sam rubbed at it self consciously. “It hurts.” He sighed in frustration. “You said you had something to tell me. Something to explain.”
Jim nodded. “Yeah, okay. So Quem Patrocinorus is the name of the organization. It’s made up of priests and other religious leaders, scholars, historians. It predates the church. But the highest levels are a part of the church hierarchy now.” He looked uncomfortable, fidgeting in his seat. “We…they are tasked with keeping mankind safe.”
“Safe?” Dean asked, his voice laced with anger. “From what?”
“From people like me.” Sam said softly. “If I understand correctly, they seek out children like me and try to teach them to control their power, train them not to use it, or to use it only in specific situations.”
Jim nodded slowly. “Only, to our knowledge there’s never been one like you Sam.” He blew out slowly and on the moist breath, Sam could taste that sadness again, a loss of something important. “I was recruited right out of seminary. I believed in the goals, in what we were doing. I was assigned to your mother.”
Sam hadn’t expected that. He sat back and looked at Dean. “Mom? Why?”
“She was…special. Gifted really. She slipped through the cracks, and when we’d found her it was too late to train her. But, she seemed to have a natural control, a sense of balance that kept her gifts in check. I don’t think she even knew she had them. I was supposed to take over from the priest before me, but she died only a few days after I arrived in Lawrence.”
“So you’re duty fell to watching me instead?” Sam asked, watching Jim nod wearily. “You, and Dean. If your mother was one, it stood to reason that one of you would be too. That was a long time ago, before I knew the whole story. My job was to watch, and if you showed signs, take you to the center where you’d be trained.”
“But I never did.” Sam pulled his coffee to him, dumping sugars into it before lifting it to his lips. “Because the demon got in the middle and did something to block them.”
Jim nodded. “And the exorcism broke down that wall and your power came roaring out of you. I’d never seen anything like it Sam.” He leaned forward, fixing Sam with his eyes. “It made me rethink things. I did some research, re-ran your mother’s genealogy, your father’s. There was a reason your mother slipped through our fingers. A reason why she didn’t seem to be aware of her gifts.”
“She was blocked like I was.” Sam said. “He did it. Blocked her so you wouldn’t know.”
Jim nodded. “I think he’s done it a lot. In fact, I have evidence that indicates he’s been planning for you.”
Sam shook his head. His thought processes were slow and he wasn’t sure of the information he was getting from his extra senses. “Wait. Wait. What are you saying?”
“Quem Patrocinorus was formed in the dark before time to safeguard secrets that have never been spoken outside the sacred boundaries of our brotherhood.”
“Secrets you plan on sharing?” Dean asked. His anger was ratcheting up. Sam could feel it.
Jim nodded tightly. “I do, Dean. I just…” He looked out at the dark parking lot. “I need to…make sure we’re safe first.” He pulled a card out of his pocket and slid it across the table. “Meet me here tomorrow. Around 3pm. Get some sleep, cover your tracks, and meet me. I’ll tell you everything.”
Dean was pulling on him, pulling him from the booth. Sam couldn’t stop the yawn as he stood, then suddenly he placed it…the sad emanating off of Jim, the profound sense of loss. He turned, his eyes wide. “You left.”
Jim nodded, looking away.
“What, the organization?” Dean asked.
Sam shook his head. “The church.”
“I didn’t belong there any more Sam. You boys get some rest.”
Sam let Dean support him out to the car. “We have to be careful Dean. It’s coming fast.” He could almost see it. Would see it when he closed his eyes. When he slept.
“You ever getting that sorry ass of yours out of that bed?”
John didn’t look up at Bobby, didn’t turn away from staring at the scars on his hands. He heard Bobby move in closer. “I got word of a hunt that needs doing.”
John took a deep breath. “I’m in no shape for hunting.”
“Won’t ever be you keep sitting there feeling sorry for yourself.”
“Fuck you.”
“I’m not your type.” Bobby moved around to the end of the bed. “Seriously, you been moping long enough. Time to get back into the fight.”
John shook his head at that. He didn’t even know anymore what the fight was for, what it was about. The lines had all blurred the moment he saw his son the way the demon…the demon…saw his son. He no longer knew what was true and what was lie, what was deception. Demons lie, he knew that…but this…this was different. This was what John saw and felt from the demon inside him.
”Can you see him, John? All that power…he’s going to be mine, John…and with his body, his power…I’m going to rule this world.
And John had seen. Sam was…he wasn’t the boy John had raised. He was teetering on the brink, and when he fell, the world would fall with him.
Title: Battles, Part One; A Broken Sequel (all Broken here
Pairings/Characters: Sam/Dean, Gabe (OMC)/Caleb, John, Bobby, Pastor Jim, OMCs
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: (this part) 3023
Summary: Several months after Out of the Dark, Sam is trying to control his new-found powers, Dean is struggling to find his footing, John is spiraling deeper into depression left behind after his ordeal, Gabe is trying to piece together the strange reports of supernatural activity and recover from his own injuries and all around them the supernatural world is closing in.
A/Ns & Warnings: Offered up for
varkelton on the occassion of her birthday. This is the first part to a possibly three to four part arc that I will hopefully get finished before my surgery. This is Broken, so there will be memory of rape and torture, these characters are far from whole, though progress has been made. There will be brother/brother incest as well as other sexual content, though in this section it's only Gabe/Caleb.“Hurry.” Gabe whispered.
Caleb didn’t answer with words, just worked harder at his task. He could hear the footsteps too. He moved one hand to cup and caress Gabe’s balls while he sucked. It was his stupid mouth that got him into it. It would be his mouth that got him back out.
“He’s almost here.” Gabe said, thrusting up into Caleb’s mouth.
Caleb swallowed and hummed and tried every trick he knew to get Gabe to orgasm, and just when he thought they’d be caught at it, Gabe sputtered and grabbed his head with his good hand, coming quickly.
Allen was almost to the door when Caleb tucked Gabe in and dashed for the bathroom to rinse out his mouth. He shouldn’t let Gabe goad him into stupid games the way he did. He was old enough to know better.
The door to the room opened and he heard Gabe sputter a greeting.
“Brought dinner.” Allen said.
Caleb emerged from the bathroom, wiping his mouth. Gabe had gotten himself turned back toward the computer and was looking like he was busily working on something.
Allen set down bags of take out, his eyes wandering between his son and Caleb. Caleb cleared his throat. “Gabe thinks he found something.”
Allen’s eyebrow raised almost to his hairline, but he took the hint as he started pulling food out of bags. “Whatcha got?”
“Pattern.” Gabe said, his forehead wrinkling as he leaned in to the computer screen. “All the weird shit, like trails, all converging on Laramie.”
“As in, Wyoming?”
Gabe nodded, reaching for the fried rice his father was handing him. “Yeah, and the closer you get, the nastier it gets.” He shoveled rice into his mouth and pointed. “Look, it’s coming down from the north, a trail of hauntings gone seriously bad, demon possession, raw heads, werewolves, spectrals, hellhounds. Then there’s the reports of Fae.”
Allen stopped what he was doing and stared at Gabe. “Fae. As in Fairies?”
Gabe nodded as he chewed. “Spotted and reported all along here.” He pointed out an arc of land west and north of Laramie. He flipped screens to a picture. “Dancy sent me these.” Tall, fierce looking men and women with large dogs could be glimpsed among the redwood trees.
“I’ll be damned.” Allen passed a container of chow mein to Caleb. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.”
“Whatever it is, this has to be serious if it’s bringing out the Fae.” Caleb said, peering over Gabe’s shoulder. “There hasn’t been a serious sighting of them in nearly 200 years.”
Allen was nodding. “Have you sent this to Sam yet?”
Gabe shook his head. “I want to finish my analysis. I’ll send it in the morning.”
“We’re heading out to the Roadhouse to meet up with Bobby and Joe.” Allan took his box of sweet and sour pork and sat on the bed he’d claimed the night before. “Ellen’s found more of Ash’s old things she wants you to look at.”
Gabe looked up at his father, then to Caleb and back again. “Don’t even think it.”
Caleb sighed and touched his shoulder. “Easy.”
“No.” Gabe stood, pulling away. He hobbled toward the door. “You are not leaving me there while you go off to help Sam.”
“Gabe, you’re still hurt.” Caleb tried, glancing at Allen and willing him to stay out of the argument for once. Gabe always felt like he had to fight harder when Allen got in the middle. “You can barely walk, your arm is still healing.” Caleb moved closer and this time Gabe didn’t pull away. “Rules, remember.” Caleb whispered so that only Gabe could hear.
Gabe’s face was set and hard. “I know rules.” Gabe bit the words out. Then he turned to look Caleb in the eye. He was furious, but starting to soften.
Caleb kissed his cheek. “I don’t want to see you get hurt again.” He knew Allen was uncomfortable, but he slipped his arms around Gabe and pulled him close. “What would I do without you?”
Gabe melted a little then, sagging against his arms. “You know payback’s a bitch.”
“With teeth.” Caleb breathed into his ear.
The breeze was warm as Dean leaned against the hood of the Impala, watching Sam. He couldn’t say he was comfortable with this. The whole thing made him uneasy.
Not Sam. Not even the idea of Sam’s…well, he didn’t know what to call them. Powers? Sounded to dorky. Gifts? That remained to be seen. But this guy helping Sam figure them out and the things he said Sam was capable of…that was what made Dean wonder.
But, that was why they were here, with Derrik somebody-or-other that Sam had met through an old friend of their father’s when they last went through Kansas. Supposedly he could help Sam get a handle on it.
Sam still had a tendency to coddle him, so he wasn’t really sure he still had the whole story. And he had unexpected moments when the programming grabbed him. But, he remembered. Just about everything.
There were holes, which they figured had something to do with the drugs they fed him those first awful months. But he remembered getting drunk, and getting grabbed. He remembered the first dark days, locked in the cage, in the restraints with no food or water, no light, no sound. He remembered the rape and beatings. He remembered Sam coming to buy him and the confusion of trying to be Dean again, when all he remembered how to be was Nothing, No one, Alone.
Sam was sweating, but not moving. His eyes were closed. Dean sighed and turned away. He didn’t really want to be here, but he didn’t want to be left alone either. And since they’d dropped their father off at Bobby’s a few days before that’s all that was really left to him.
Sam called this training. Trouble was Dean wasn’t sure what he was training for. What he did know was that Sam said something was coming. Something big. He’d been saying it for months.
He wanted a beer. They were in the middle of nowhere though, the nearest bar almost forty-five minutes away. He sighed and opened the back door of the Impala. Before he’d even gotten his ass on the seat though he heard the rumble of an engine. He turned down the dusty road that led in off the road. It wasn’t quite dark as a dusty blue truck rumbled to a stop beside him.
Pastor Jim looked worn and tired as he got out of the truck, holding his hands up to ward of the argument already lashing out at him from Sam, who was suddenly on his feet and stalking toward the priest. “Sam, calm down.”
“I told you the last time I saw you that I wanted nothing to do with your little cabal.”
“Sam, let me—“
“Did they send you in to placate me while they circle around and cut us off?”
Jim shook his head. “They don’t know I’m here. I’m here for you, Sam. You and Dean.”
Sam spared a glance at Dean, who took a few steps closer, moving so his shoulder was between Sam and Jim. “What’s going on Sam?”
“Remember Des Moines, Dean? After we left Missouri’s. Those were his goons.”
“Not mine Sam.”
“The whack jobs that tried to kill us?” Dean remembered that very clearly. Five priests plus muscle, calling Sam the anti-christ. He scowled at Jim. “What’s this about?”
“He works for an organization.” Sam said, practically vibrating with anger. “They try to control people like me, and when they can’t, they kill them.”
“Sam, please.”
Sam crossed his arms and stood quiet while Jim fidgeted.
“I’d like the chance to explain.” Jim said finally, glancing at Dean, then Sam. “But not here. Can we go somewhere?”
Sam squinted at the older man, then seemed to soften. “Yeah, okay. Give us a minute.”
Sam dragged Dean away, out of ear shot. He sighed. “He’s telling the truth, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t followed. We need to be careful.”
“Okay. What about him?” Dean looked to Derrick.
“I was just about done with him anyway. “ Sam pulled a hand through his hair and sighed again.
“You look tired.” Dean said, touching his elbow. “You should sleep.”
Sam smiled weakly. “I will Dean. Tonight. Let’s just deal with this first.”
“Why don’t you go back to the motel. I’ll take a ride with Pastor Jim, get the story.” Sam’s eyes were hazy and now that the anger had drained away, he looked like he was going to fall asleep standing.
Still, Sam shook his head. “No…I need to hear it.”
Dean shook his head in frustration. “Then let’s get it done before you pass out on me.”
“Huh.” Gabe chewed at his lip as he parsed through the results of his last calculation. He reached for his coffee cup, but it was empty.
“Gabe?” Caleb was squinting at him from the bed nearest the door. Gabe went for the cooler near the door and pulled out a soda, stopping to kiss Caleb’s forehead before going back to the computer. Caleb sat up and reached for him, sighing when he missed. “It’s almost morning. Come to bed.”
Gabe shook his head. “Got more stuff to plug in, emails from Bobby and Emily and the stuff I got from Megan.”
Caleb was up and standing behind him, his hands rubbing at Gabe’s shoulders. “Your arm is never going to finish healing if you don’t stop using it. You heard what the doctor told you.”
Gabe made a face and rubbed his good hand over the smaller, lighter cast that had only just replaced the one that had immobilized his arm from shoulder to fingertips. “It’s fine. Mostly use my other hand.”
Caleb sighed and leaned in, resting his head on Gabe’s. “You’re still mad at me.”
He was, but that wasn’t why he was still up. Well, maybe it was…a little. It was a small rebellion, proof that he wasn’t a child. Which was silly and childish, but for the moment, with his physical condition, it was the best he had.
“Come to bed.” Caleb whispered in his ear, his hands rubbing over Gabe’s shoulders and down on to his arms.
Gabe felt the words all the way down into his belly, his cock stirring as if they could do anything with his father asleep in the next bed. “Yeah, okay. Let me just send the bundle to Sam.”
He zipped up the files and sent it all out Sam before he closed his laptop and let Caleb lead him to the bed. He was tired. It had been a long couple of days. He sat on the bed and Caleb handed him a glass of water and two pills. He started to shake his head, but Caleb clearly wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “I know you’re hurting Gabe, I can tell. Take the pills, get some sleep.”
Gabe sighed and conceded, swallowing down the pills and letting Caleb tuck him in before he moved around to the other side of the bed and crawled in. Gabe rolled toward him, his casted arm laying across Caleb’s chest as he closed his eyes and settled in to sleep.
Sam was exhausted as he pulled himself into the diner. Dean was watching him wearily, watching and not happy about it. Jim was already sitting at a booth. Sam stopped at the door, holding his head. It was pounding again. He’d over exerted himself.
He wouldn’t mind it, if he were getting anything resembling control. He’d learned little things, but he’d be lying if he said he knew how to keep himself from exploding. He was holding on, but only barely, and he knew it.
Jim looked up as they approached and Sam slid into the booth, grateful for the cup of coffee already steaming in front of him. Dean slid in beside him, one hand landing protectively on Sam’s thigh.
“You look like shit, Sam.” Jim said, sipping at his own coffee.
“Tired.” Sam said before he squinted up at Jim. There was something different about him, sad…a little lost. Jim cleared his throat and distracted Sam from digging for it.
“Derrick Mains is good at what he does, but he’s not helping you. He can’t help you.”
Sam wanted to be angry, wanted to tell the priest to fuck off, but he was right. “I know. It was worth a shot.”
Jim pressed his lips together and nodded. “How’s your head?”
Sam rubbed at it self consciously. “It hurts.” He sighed in frustration. “You said you had something to tell me. Something to explain.”
Jim nodded. “Yeah, okay. So Quem Patrocinorus is the name of the organization. It’s made up of priests and other religious leaders, scholars, historians. It predates the church. But the highest levels are a part of the church hierarchy now.” He looked uncomfortable, fidgeting in his seat. “We…they are tasked with keeping mankind safe.”
“Safe?” Dean asked, his voice laced with anger. “From what?”
“From people like me.” Sam said softly. “If I understand correctly, they seek out children like me and try to teach them to control their power, train them not to use it, or to use it only in specific situations.”
Jim nodded slowly. “Only, to our knowledge there’s never been one like you Sam.” He blew out slowly and on the moist breath, Sam could taste that sadness again, a loss of something important. “I was recruited right out of seminary. I believed in the goals, in what we were doing. I was assigned to your mother.”
Sam hadn’t expected that. He sat back and looked at Dean. “Mom? Why?”
“She was…special. Gifted really. She slipped through the cracks, and when we’d found her it was too late to train her. But, she seemed to have a natural control, a sense of balance that kept her gifts in check. I don’t think she even knew she had them. I was supposed to take over from the priest before me, but she died only a few days after I arrived in Lawrence.”
“So you’re duty fell to watching me instead?” Sam asked, watching Jim nod wearily. “You, and Dean. If your mother was one, it stood to reason that one of you would be too. That was a long time ago, before I knew the whole story. My job was to watch, and if you showed signs, take you to the center where you’d be trained.”
“But I never did.” Sam pulled his coffee to him, dumping sugars into it before lifting it to his lips. “Because the demon got in the middle and did something to block them.”
Jim nodded. “And the exorcism broke down that wall and your power came roaring out of you. I’d never seen anything like it Sam.” He leaned forward, fixing Sam with his eyes. “It made me rethink things. I did some research, re-ran your mother’s genealogy, your father’s. There was a reason your mother slipped through our fingers. A reason why she didn’t seem to be aware of her gifts.”
“She was blocked like I was.” Sam said. “He did it. Blocked her so you wouldn’t know.”
Jim nodded. “I think he’s done it a lot. In fact, I have evidence that indicates he’s been planning for you.”
Sam shook his head. His thought processes were slow and he wasn’t sure of the information he was getting from his extra senses. “Wait. Wait. What are you saying?”
“Quem Patrocinorus was formed in the dark before time to safeguard secrets that have never been spoken outside the sacred boundaries of our brotherhood.”
“Secrets you plan on sharing?” Dean asked. His anger was ratcheting up. Sam could feel it.
Jim nodded tightly. “I do, Dean. I just…” He looked out at the dark parking lot. “I need to…make sure we’re safe first.” He pulled a card out of his pocket and slid it across the table. “Meet me here tomorrow. Around 3pm. Get some sleep, cover your tracks, and meet me. I’ll tell you everything.”
Dean was pulling on him, pulling him from the booth. Sam couldn’t stop the yawn as he stood, then suddenly he placed it…the sad emanating off of Jim, the profound sense of loss. He turned, his eyes wide. “You left.”
Jim nodded, looking away.
“What, the organization?” Dean asked.
Sam shook his head. “The church.”
“I didn’t belong there any more Sam. You boys get some rest.”
Sam let Dean support him out to the car. “We have to be careful Dean. It’s coming fast.” He could almost see it. Would see it when he closed his eyes. When he slept.
“You ever getting that sorry ass of yours out of that bed?”
John didn’t look up at Bobby, didn’t turn away from staring at the scars on his hands. He heard Bobby move in closer. “I got word of a hunt that needs doing.”
John took a deep breath. “I’m in no shape for hunting.”
“Won’t ever be you keep sitting there feeling sorry for yourself.”
“Fuck you.”
“I’m not your type.” Bobby moved around to the end of the bed. “Seriously, you been moping long enough. Time to get back into the fight.”
John shook his head at that. He didn’t even know anymore what the fight was for, what it was about. The lines had all blurred the moment he saw his son the way the demon…the demon…saw his son. He no longer knew what was true and what was lie, what was deception. Demons lie, he knew that…but this…this was different. This was what John saw and felt from the demon inside him.
”Can you see him, John? All that power…he’s going to be mine, John…and with his body, his power…I’m going to rule this world.
And John had seen. Sam was…he wasn’t the boy John had raised. He was teetering on the brink, and when he fell, the world would fall with him.
