I was glaring at Dean,
Lisa said" At least wait till you've checked the place out before you hate it. Open mind. It's all I ask."
Ben said" Yeah, all right." Then he got up," I'll be back."
Dean said" Oh. Hey, where's the fire?"
" I'm just gonna check out the block."
" And let your mom unpack the kitchen by herself? Come on."
Lisa said" We'll go for lunch later. Scope out the neighborhood. Right?"
" Yeah, sounds like a plan." No, they won't," Come on, why don't you give me a hand?" He moved, I huffed then got up and followed them so I could continue to glare at him." River, I can see you, bud."
I growled" Good." He sighed, I crossed my arms over my chest.
Dean got pizza delivered, see, I knew he'd do that.
Dean said" What?" As he saw Lisa and Ben stare at him,
Lisa said" Thought we were going out."
" Oh, yeah, I forgot. I'm sorry."
" Sure. I'll look for plates." They walked away, I looked at Dean,
I said" Liar."
He said" You gonna hate me for the rest of my life?"
" No, you're still my big brother. But I can hold a grudge for a while. You let him leave again."
" What did you want me to do? Chain him up?"
" Preferably really big chains and a really tricky lock."
" Come on, dude, give me a break." I huffed, then walked away," Where are you going?"
" Away from you."
" Come on, Riv-"
" Leave me alone, De." I froze him as he tried to follow me, then let him go, running out.
I've been hiding for a while now, I heard Dean yelled at Ben, and Ben's locked himself in his room. Lisa went to talk to Dean.
I walked downstairs, I saw Dean salting the windows. He was on the phone,
Dean said" I'm out. I'm staying out. For what? What's so nuts you gotta threaten a damn drive-by?" He made a face, I looked at him, he's definitely talking to Sam. I ran to his truck.
He got out there and looked at me, he sighed then got in, and opened the door, I smirked and climbed in.
We met with Sam, we got out,
Dean said" Where is it?"
Sam said" Strapped down in the backseat." I ran to the window and looked at the baby, Dean looked too." Welcome to the party, Guttenberg."
———
I ran out the door, as Dean was distracted by Lisa, then Dean walked out, he looked at me.
He said" Any chance-"
I said" I can kill you, you know. It's not that hard, you bleed fast."
" All right, you scare me." He grabbed my bag from me, I smirked and ran to the truck.
We met with Sam, getting out,
Dean said" All right. So, what do we know about this thing?" He grabbed our bags from the bed,
Sam said" Well, uh, it was fast. And it freaked when I cut it with silver."
" All right. So that narrows it down to..."
" A ghoul, a zombie, a shifter or about a dozen other things." Dean put our stuff in Sam's car's trunk,
" I don't recall seeing babynapping in the profiles."
" Yeah. Exactly." We got into the car, I stared at the baby,
" Well, feel free to speak up if you know anything."
" Seat belt."
" What am I, in third grade? A car should drive, not be a little bitch." The baby babbled," Yeah, don't take it personal. Well, we need to get some supplies."
" I got an arsenal in the trunk."
" Not that kind."
We were at the store,
Dean said" I'm pretty sure there's some kind of paste or jelly you're supposed to put on their butt."
Sam said" Like, uh... Like that?"
" Yeah. Grab that." Dean grabbed diapers, I looked at Sam,
" So how do you know all this?"
" Uh, Lisa's got a baby niece. So I've been on a few milk runs."
" Huh."
" Shut it." Sam chuckled,
" I just said, huh."
" I just said, shut it. All right, we gotta get moving. We got the waterworks in T-minus-10. Go."
" All right." Sam started moving while Dean piled stuff in his arms.
We were in the check out line, the baby was crying,
Dean said" Shh. Shh. Come on. Hang in there, buddy. Hang in there, man."
Sam said" Dean, make it stop."
" How?"
" Everyone's staring at us like we're child abusers. Feed it."
" We fed it."
" Then what?"
" Do you think I speak baby? Maybe he needs a diaper change."
" Oh, god, I hope not." Dean lifted up the baby, then mimicked the crying.
I said" Can I freeze it?"
A woman said" Aw. What's the matter? What's his name?"
Dean said" Bobby."
Sam said" John. Ahem."
" Bobby John."
The woman said" Hi, Bobby John. Aren't you handsome. May I?"
" Oh, uh..." He let the woman grab the baby, the baby stopped crying.
" I see, now, Bobby John's a little wet. No offense, you two look exhausted. I don't mind. Lord knows I've changed a million diapers." Dean looked around,
" That's really nice offer, thank you, but, um, ahem, I think we've got it."
" Oh, it's nothing, happy to help."
" Give me the baby before I stab you in your neck."
Sam said" Dean." Dean pointed back, I looked at the camera live footage, glowing eyes. She took off running, Dean chased after her, Sam and I ran around, we blocked her. I froze her, Sam grabbed the baby, Dean tackled her, I took the baby from Sam as we ran out. I put the baby in the seat as Sam drove, Dean jumped in next to me.
" Go, go, go!" Sam drove off fast.
Dean was trying to buckle the baby up,
He said" The hell's a shifter want with a baby, anyway?"
Sam said" You tell me."
" And how the hell did it find us? Ah, who designed this thing, NASA?"
" It could have been following me this whole time. Since the baby's house."
" All right, you know what, we gotta get off the road. Get, uh, Bobby John here someplace safe..." The baby started crying," Figure this thing out. Okay. All right. Shh, shh. Easy, kid."
I said" How did you survive with me?"
" You were older than this. Way older. Way easier."
We got a motel room, and stuff for the baby, I was sitting on the bed.
Dean said" Okay. All right, you know what? I'll pay you money if you sit still." He was trying to change the baby's diaper, Sam chuckled," This is like diffusing an IED with poop. Okay. All right, all right, all right. You are golden, Bobby John." He lifted the baby up," Time to hit the hay." Then he was humming... was he humming Smoke on the water?
Sam said" You're just gonna make it crank again."
" Shh. It's working. Okay. If I put you down, you gonna be a man about it? Hmm?" He put him into the crib and the baby was asleep,
" Huh."
" What?"
" You're just, uh, actually... not awful at that."
" Dude, I'm barely keeping that thing alive."
" No, no, no, seriously. You got a whole Dr. Huxable vibe coming off of you. You're, like, father material."
" Yeah, well, I kind of had to be lately, you know? Sink or swim, right?"
" You mean Ben."
" Yeah, I mean Ben. I mean, I know he's not my kid... but I don't know, I'm starting to feel like, yeah, he is. When I think about the way we grew up... I don't know, I feel like I have a chance to... do something different with Ben, you know?"
" You sure about that?"
" What do you mean?"
" Look, you clearly care about the kid."
" But?"
" But moving them around... keeping them on lockdown... I mean, you do have them on lockdown, right? How is any of that different from how we were raised?"
" So you're saying... I'm not shoving anybody into this life, okay? This is temporary."
" Ha. Dad always said it was temporary, Dean. Said it for 22 years. Look, I get it. You wanna watch out for them. That's great. I'm just asking how do you do that... and not turn into dad? Crap. I can't believe I missed this."
" What?"
" This house on Elm. The mother was killed, baby was grabbed... but daddy wasn't living in the house at the time. So he's still alive. What do you say we go chat?"
" I say let's." They both stood up, one... two... They both looked at the crib," You go."
" You sure?"
" Unless you got a badge for Bobby John... yeah, I'm sure." The baby started crying, Sam walked out, then I saw Dean stick his finger into his glass... he wouldn't! He would! I froze him,
I said" Dean, no."
" I'll give you 10 bucks."
" Did you give me alcohol?"
" No... maybe... it was only once." My mouth opened, as I stared at him, he unfroze. He stuck his finger into the baby's mouth," It's good, isn't it?"
" You gave me alcohol?"
" You'd been crying for 48 hours straight, I was going a little insane, your growing teeth were hurting you. So, I gave you an ant sized drop from my finger."
" I can't believe you."
" Yeah, you can." I huffed,
" Yeah, I can." He looked at me," I'm still mad at you."
" Yeah, I know, kiddo."
I was falling asleep, then I heard the baby crying, I sat up and saw gloop, flesh gloop. I looked at Dean then ran to the crib, Dean's phone rang. I looked into the crib, shifter baby... shifter baby? Shifter baby!
Dean said" Yeah? Yeah." Dean lifted up the baby, which now looked like the baby from the diaper box." You think?"
Dean cleaned up the baby, he was still crying, someone knocked on the door.
A man said" Manager. Everything okay in there?"
Dean said" Yeah, no, we're fine. Thank you. Good night."
" There's been complaints. Mind opening the door, sir?"
" Uh, it's not a good time. Just got out of The shower." Dean picked the baby up, shh'ing in. The door knob rattled, Dean looked at me, then put the baby in the crib and ran to the door. I hid behind the bed, pulling out my switchblade, silver switchblade. The door opened and Dean pushed the shifter,
" Get out of the way."
" Not gonna happen."
" A child should be with his father."
" Well, I gotta be honest, I'm not really seeing the family resemblance."
" I'm not just talking about me. I'm talking about our father." Dean fought him but was thrown, I ran to the crib, holding my switchblade in my fist. Then the shifter was shot, I sighed, I looked at Sam.
" Well, there goes our deposit." I lifted the baby out of the crib, holding it out at arm's length.
I said" Hi, shifter baby."
" River, blade, buddy."
" Ten bucks said I had a loaded gun next to me before."
" Shut up." I smirked and held the baby with one arm against me while I put my switchblade in my pocket.
We were driving somewhere,
Sam said" It's pretty smart, actually. I mean, Shifter poses as a guard... from the security company, then it scopes out the fam."
Dean said" Yeah, then daddy takes off, and Shifter becomes daddy. A few glasses of wine, shakes mama's trees... comes back in nine months to collect its prize."
" I didn't even know they had babies. I thought they were just freaks of nature, like X-men style."
" You learn something new every day, huh?"
" I've never seen a baby monster before."
" Yeah. Of course, it's not really a monster. I mean, it's still just a baby. It's not its fault its dad's a shifter."
" Right, but it's a Shifter too."
" Still doesn't change the fact that we've gotta... we gotta look after this thing. But what are we gonna do with it? We can't drop it off at an orphanage. They might get upset when it turns Asian."
" Samuel."
" What?"
" Samuel. He'll know what to do."
" You wanna bring it to hunters?"
" Not just hunters, Dean. They're our family."
" We don't know them."
" I do. Not every hunter is a headcase. I mean, Samuel is actually a lot like you."
" I'm a freaking headcase."
" Well, pitch a better idea, then." Dean couldn't.
" Great. Samuel it is." Hunters? I don't like hunters, minus Bobby and Sam, and Dean. That's it. I gulped, the car sputtered then cut off," Whoa." He pulled over, then both of them looked at me.
" Buddy, what's up?"
I said" Other hunters?"
Sam said" You think we'd let anyone get to you."
Dean said" Oh, he thinks a lot, lately. River, I'd never let anyone touch you, you know that."
I said" No. We can come up with s'thing else, you two are dumb enough to think of something even dumber."
Sam said" He really thinks we're really dumb, doesn't he?"
Dean said" Oh, yeah. He thinks we're the dumbest people alive... River, buddy, let the car start up. I'm not letting anything bad happen to you."
I said" They're hunters. Hunters are scary."
" Are we scary?"
" No..."
" So, not all hunters are scary."
" But... that's not a good reason, you're my brothers, by blood you can't be scary to me."
Sam said" Is this his logic?" Dean nodded, Sam sighed," Hey, I'm a pretty good judgement of character, and I trust them. So, you gonna trust me?"
" It's two against one, isn't it?"
" I'll pay you 20 bucks."
" Can't I just stay in the car?"
" You'll suffocate."
" I'm okay with that." He scoffed,
" Can't stay in the car, Riv. You trust us, right? We're your big brothers." I huffed but nodded, I trust them... maybe. Just enough. For now. I calmed down, they wouldn't let anything happen to me, right? They're my big brothers. The car started, I yawned, rubbing my eyes, I laid my head on the seat.
We pulled up to the place, I whimpered and reached up to grab onto Dean's jacket. I already don't like it here.
We were in the place, my arms were wrapped around Dean's stomach, my face pressed against his side.
The woman said" Well, aren't you just the best disguise a monster ever wore? I'm kidding, Dean, relax."
Dean said" What, you got something to say? No? All right. Well, you just stand there and think at me.
Sam said" So, what's our next move?" He walked in with Samuel,
Samuel said" I got a couple ideas. Dean, let me see the little guy."
Dean said" That's all right. I got it."
" What do you think I'm gonna do?" Kill him. Torture him.
" You really don't want me to answer that question." The man sitting down fixing something spoke up,
He said" Well, I'm curious. Who exactly do you think we are?" Evil, mean hunters.
" Hunters."
" Funny. Here I've been thinking we're family." I tightened my arms around Dean's stomach,
Sam said" Hey, let's not get worked up."
" Yeah. Yeah, let's not."
" Here. Dean, it's fine. Let me take him. It's okay." Sam handed the baby to Samuel,
Samuel said" Hey, there. Oh, you're a big fella, aren't you? Yeah. I haven't held one of these in a long time. Your mom was the tiniest. She was bald as a cue ball."
Dean said" So what the hell are we gonna do with him?"
" Raise him."
" Raise him?"
" You got another suggestion?"
" But-"
" It's dangerous out there for him."
" What about in here? What, are we gonna study him? Poke at him."
Fix guy said" Your mind goes right to torture, Dean. Don't assume that for everyone."
" What exactly are you trying to say?"
" Sorry, I heard about what you majored in, down in the pit." I glared at the man, I gripped Dean's jacket,
" The hell is your problem, man?"
" You're starting to become a pain in my ass."
Sam said" Christian, take it easy, man. He's my brother."
Samuel said" We all done bristling up, or what? Nobody's doing anything to him, Dean. When he's old enough, we throw it to him. He wants to volunteer to help out, that's fine."
The quiet one said" Could be great."
Dean said" How?"
" Think of the kind of hunter he'll grow up to be."
" You all are joking, right? I mean, come on. You can't Angelina Jolie a shapeshifter. Give me the baby."
Samuel said" Why can't you give me an inch of trust, Dean?"
" You two are suddenly back from the dead... and I seem to be the only one who wants to know how the hell that happened."
Sam said" You're not the only one who wants to know."
" There's too much mystery with this family for me to get comfy."
Samuel said" Then don't. But don't put it on us. All we're trying to do is invite you in. Christian?"
He said" Yeah?"
" You and Arlene, still no luck on the baby front?"
" Not yet, no."
" But you want one?"
" Yeah, we do."
Dean said" Wait, hold on."
Samuel said" It's okay, Dean. It's all right. Congrats. It's a boy. Sometimes."
Christian said" Ha, ha. The crap I do for this family."
Dean said" You're kidding, right?"
" Go to hell, Dean."
" Well, you have no business raising anything."
Sam said" Why, Dean, because he's a hunter?" Then there was dogs barking, I got a bad feeling,
Samuel said" Check the back door. Downstairs. Panic room. He'll be safe there. Go. We got it. Go. Now." Sam grabbed my arm and pulled me to him as we started walking.
We were in a panic room,
Dean said" Come on, Bobby John. You have got to keep quiet. It does not sound good up there." There was a bunch of crashing sounds,
Sam said" All right. I'm going up. Stay with the baby." Then we saw the shifter as Sam at the door, the shifted tore the door off. The shifter threw Sam, then the shifter turned into Dean... but not the normal, flesh goop way.
" What the-"
The shifter said" Give me the baby."
" No way in hell." The shifter grabbed Dean's neck, lifting him up, I got angry, the ground started shaking. Dean was choking, the shifter grabbed the baby, and made Dean pass out.
I said" No!" The shifter slammed into the wall, the baby came into my arms, I gulped but held onto the baby as the shifter charged me, I ran to the other wall.
The shifter said" Give me the baby."
" Yeah, no." He charged me, I ran for the opposite wall again, but my jacket was grabbed and I was thrown into the wall. My neck was grabbed and I was slid up the wall, I started choking," No, no, no!" I held onto the baby as the energy exploded, my head slammed into the wall, as the shifter was thrown back, I fell, shielding the baby. I landed on my back, then the shifter's foot was on my throat and he took the baby from my arms, I got really dizzy, then everything went black.
I woke up to someone slapping my face, I froze their hand,
Dean said" Idiot."
I mumbled" I know you are, but what I am."
" A smart ass little shit." I opened my eyes and looked at him," Scared the shit out of me, what'd you do?"
" Tried to keep the baby."
" Did that really have to include you bleeding?"
" Well, that's not my fault."
" Yeah, sure. You're gonna have a hell of a bruise, you know." His hand skimmed over my neck,
" Ow!"
" Sorry, sorry."
" The energy exploded again. I got really angry."
" That's okay. You tried to hold it in, didn't you?"
" No. You and Sam were down, it was either me or the shifter. I'm not dying for those people. I don't care about them. So bite me."
" All right, you are one pissed off little kid. I liked you better when you were a toddler."
———
Dean made a deal with Lisa, we hunt but we come by when we can. Dean also tried to make me stay with them, I threatened to key the impala, he quickly took back the statement!