Chapter Text
Ten Weeks Ago
Ruby strutted into the small motel room, dark eyes coming to a stop on the petite blonde. She gave a snort of disapproval. "When you gonna get rid of short stuff, and how have you not broken her in half by now?"
Sam threw the door closed behind the demon. "Shut it, Ruby."
"Hey, you called me, remember?"
Nicole felt the heat of anger flare to life in the pit of her stomach. "And we can just as easily send your ass back to Hell, permanently if need be." The demon killing blade was unsheathed, shining in the dim lighting.
Ruby laughed, holding out her hands in defense. "Aren't you chock full of piss and vinegar."
The petite blonde growled as her hand tightened on the hilt. Sam's hand on her shoulder was the only thing keeping her from smiting the demon.
"Ruby, we didn't call you here to fight."
The demon shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather coat. "Why did you call me, Sam? Because if it's a threesome you want, I don't think she's game."
Sam tightened his grip on Nicole's shoulder. "We want your help."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "If this is about your brother –"
"You're damn right it's about Dean!"
She pinned Sam with a steely gaze. "Even if I could help, I wouldn't do it."
"Told you." Nicole spat the words out.
Ruby's gaze fell to the short hunter. "Perhaps you need your hearing checked. I. Can't. Help. You."
"You're lying."
"Can't do it, Winchester, sorry." She turned to leave the crappy motel room, but was stopped by an unseen force. She hissed through her teeth as she spun on her heel to face the hunting duo. "You tricked me."
"And you know how to save my brother."
Ruby growled when Nicole smiled triumphantly. "Fine, but you're not going to like what I have to say."
"If it saves my brother, I don't care."
"You might not, but I can guarantee you she'll care."
Ten Weeks Later
Bobby shuffled into his office with a steaming cup of coffee, courtesy of Jax. Just as he dropped into the chair, the old phone rang.
"Yeah?"
"Bobby?"
The voice on the other end sent a shiver down his spine. "Yeah?"
"It's me."
"Who's 'me'?"
"Dean."
Bobby slammed the phone down as if it burned him. There was no way that was Dean. He was in Hell, having God knows what done to him. He wasn't topside, couldn't be. Unless…
The phone rang again. He couldn't hide the anger as it coated his words. "Who is this?"
"Bobby, listen to me."
Whoever, or whatever, it was sounded desperate. "This ain't funny. Call again, I'll kill ya." His hand shook as the receiver fell into the cradle, clattering loudly.
Bobby took a large gulp of his coffee before picking the receiver up, dialing a phone he knew no one would answer.
"You've reached Sam. Leave a message."
"It's Bobby, call me. Now." He repeated the steps with Nicole's phone, she didn't answer either.
To be honest, he didn't expect her to. It's been weeks since anyone has heard from either one of them. Sam, dead set on finding a way to save his brother, and Nicole, not wanting Sam to wander down the wrong path, took off a week after the positive pregnancy test. They had the best intentions, but you know what they say, that's what the road to Hell is paved with.
After leaving a slightly longer message on Nicole's voicemail, Bobby leaned back in the chair and scraped a hand over his face. "Balls."
Jax pushed up to the balls of her feet, arms bowed out gracefully, hands poised at the edge of the barre. Focusing on her breathing, and her form, she pushed further until she was balancing on her toes; the pointe shoes providing her with a little extra support. Muscles stretched with the movement, the arches in her feet bent beautifully, if she said so herself. The muscle definition in her calves strained against the fabric of her leggings. With her head held high, her neck and shoulders stretched elegantly; making her look taller than she really was.
As she stood in front of the mirror, holding the pose, her eyes fell to the swelling of her stomach; barely noticeable to anyone that didn't know she was 4 months pregnant. Her doctor said she was one of the lucky ones, being so small. The baby was healthy, growing at the recommended rate, so there was no concern for its safety.
Jax began to glide along the floor, her pointe shoes tapping softly on the hardwood. It was then she felt it, the flutter of her unborn child. The baby had recently become active, but when she danced, the baby somersaulted, and spun three-fold. She turned, spinning away from the barre, dancing freely in the open space of the studio. She always felt more relaxed when she was here. Everything fell away as soon as she stepped into any one of the dancing shoes she had spent years breaking in. Not even the memory of Dean getting torn to pieces entered her mind when she got into position.
By the time she returned to the barre, Jax was breathing hard, and her muscles ached, in a good way. Sweat rolled in beads down the back of her neck and between her shoulder blades. Lowering herself to first position, she grabbed onto the barre with one hand; the other fell to her stomach. "I think that's enough for today, little one. What do you think?"
A deep throated chuckle answered the mother to be. "I think she'll take to dancin' like her mama."
Jax couldn't stop the smile from pulling at her mouth. She turned to Bobby, sweeping her thumb over her stomach. "She?"
Bobby shrugged as he entered the room completely. "Call it a gut feelin'."
Even though she was covered in sweat, she fell into the open arms of the older hunter. "Well, we could end the guessing. I have an ultra-sound in a couple of weeks."
He pressed a kiss into her hair before shaking his head. "It's all up to you, darlin'."
Jax stepped out of Bobby's embrace, and noticed a tightness in his face. "What's going on?"
"Can't I come down and say hi?"
She wiped the towel over her face before taking a long pull from a water bottle. "Of course you can, it's just… something's not right."
Bobby sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat. "Somethin' happened this morning."
Jax about dropped the bottle. "Sam? Nicole?"
He shook his head. "I still haven't heard from them."
Even though Jax had agreed, Nicole going with Sam was a good idea, but that didn't mean she missed them any less. Her best friend was gone, not answering any form of communication, and Jax was on the verge of hacking into Nicole's computer system, finding them, and marching out there. Her friend was missing everything that was happening with the baby, and Jax couldn't help but feel hurt.
"Then what? Why do you have that look?"
He could never hide anything from her, not for long at least. "It's probably nothing."
"That vein in your forehead wouldn't be throbbing if it were nothing."
A rueful chuckle filled the space between them. "Good point. Got a call this morning from someone."
"Ok."
"Claiming they was Dean."
The ground shifted beneath Jax's feet. Strong hands latched on to her shoulders to keep her from falling to the floor. A different feeling fluttered in her stomach, fear. Their biggest worry was that a demon would find out that she was carrying the child of Dean Winchester, and they would come for her. It looked like that time had come.
She swallowed at the bile in her throat. "What do we do?"
"We go home, and you pack. I got a friend, she'll take good care of you."
"What about you?" She grabbed Bobby's hands from her shoulders, and squeezed.
"I'll take care of it, whatever it is."
Jax had no sooner closed her bedroom door when someone knocked on the front door. Bobby opened the door to find an exact replica of the hunter they buried four months ago, staring at him.
He was breathing heavy, smiling cautiously at the older hunter. "Surprise."
Bobby's head twitched in disbelief. "I… I don't –"
"Yeah, me neither, but here I am." He stepped slowly into the house.
Bobby reached behind him, grabbing a silver knife he had lying around for a situation just like this. As "Dean" approached, Bobby lunged, slashing at him with the knife. The copycat grabbed Bobby's arm, twisting it around with lightning fast reflexes.
Bobby shifted his weight, breaking free from the hold, and backhanded the imposter.
He stumbled back with a grunt. "Bobby, it's me!"
"My ass!" He lunged forward, the blade held in his iron grip.
A chair was shoved between the two of them just as Jax thundered down the steps, a shotgun in her hands. She stumbled slightly when a pair of intense green eyes met hers. Recovering quickly, she nestled the butt of the gun into her shoulder, and pulled the hammer back, taking aim as she slid to a stop next to Bobby.
He held his hands out, desperation taking hold of his voice. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! Your name is Robert Steven Singer. You became a hunter after your wife got possessed, and… you're about the closest thing I have to a father. Jax… you saved Bobby from that nest of vampires. You teach dance at the community center, and you're my wife. We got married two weeks before –"
Bobby lowered the knife as he stepped closer. Placing a hand on "Dean's" shoulder, he swept the blade through the air. The copycat was quick, subduing, and disarming Bobby in one quick motion.
Jax tightened her grip on the shotgun barrel. "Let him GO!"
Green eyes full of panic flew up. "I am not a shape shifter."
Bobby struggled against the younger man's grip. "Then you're a revenant!"
He shoved Bobby away, and held the blade in front of him. "Alright. If I was either, could I do this… with a silver knife?" He rolled up his sleeve, and grimaced before pressing the razor sharp blade against his skin; a line of blood appeared in its wake.
The older hunter stared in disbelief. "Dean?"
Dean let out a sigh of relief. "That's what I've been trying to tell you."
Bobby grabbed Dean by the shoulders and pulled him against his chest, hugging him tight.
Dean returned the hug, enthusiastically clapping his hands against Bobby's back. His eyes fell to Jax, the gun was still pointed at his head. He watched as her hands began to shake, sending the barrel side to side. He stepped slowly out of Bobby's grip, and held out his hands.
"What do you say we put the gun down, hmm?" He worked hard to keep his voice calm. He could only imagine how frayed her nerves were, and the last thing they needed was for her to pull that trigger. He had just crawled out of a grave, he wasn't exactly keen on going back.
Jax felt her chin begin to quake as tears sprang to life. When her newly resurrected husband took a step closer, she stepped away. "D – don't." She steeled her arms, holding steady the gun that was still aimed at his head.
"Baby, it's me. I'm going to take the gun, ok? I won't hurt you."
She shook her head, trying to rid her mind of everything she had felt when he was alive, when she watched him die, when they buried him. She flicked her eyes to Bobby, and that's when Dean pounced. The gun was ripped away before she could squeeze the trigger.
The instinct to fight took control, and she spun on her heel, hitting Dean in the shoulder with a roundhouse kick. The blow almost knocked him to the ground. Bobby grabbed the gun from Dean, and un-cocked the loaded weapon. With his hands now empty, Dean set about deflecting the oncoming attacks from his wife. When one of her punches went wide, he wrapped his arms around her, trapping her against his chest.
She bucked, fighting to get away from him, but it was no use; his grip was too strong. With her face against his chest, it was the smell of him that did her in. He smelled warm, earthy with a hint of cinnamon. She choked on a sob as her hands slid around his sides, and up the curves of his back before gripping onto his shoulder blades.
His breath was hot against her ear, long fingers tangled in the hair at the back of her neck as the fight left her body. "It's ok, it's me… I'm back, baby." He supported her weight as she collapsed against him.
She wept openly into the curve of his neck. Her prayers had been answered, Dean had come home.
Jax sat at the kitchen table while Dean showered. The shock of seeing him alive hadn't completely faded.
Bobby set a glass of water down before taking a seat of his own. He kept his voice soft, not wanting to scare her. "How you doin'?"
Large, blue eyes lifted up. "Ok… I think. It's just going to take longer than a few minutes for me to believe that this isn't a dream."
He chuckled as he pulled off his hat, running a hand through his thinning hair. "You ain't the only one." Seeing her eyes glaze over sent a thrill of fear down his spine. "What? Is the baby ok?"
Her eyes snapped into focus as she laid a hand on her stomach. The baby lurched, sending a fleet of butterflies loose. "We're ok, Bobby." She reached out for his hand, and set it against the small bump.
His eyes filled with tears when he felt the baby move. They sat like that for a minute, until the water in the upstairs shower was turned off. "You gonna tell him, or you want me to?"
Jax released his hand. Her eyes fell down as she swept her fingers over her stomach. "I… I don't know, Bobby. I want to tell him… but…" She shrugged when the words failed to come.
"He deserves to know."
Of course Bobby was right. Dean had every right in the world to know that he was going to be a father. But now? Right after he was mysteriously pulled from the depths of Hell? "He does, you're right. And I'll tell him. Just… in my own time, ok?"
He clenched his jaw, ready to argue with her, but the pleading look she gave stopped him in his tracks. "Just don't wait too long."
"Wait too long for what?" Dean's voice made them both jump.
Jax spun in her seat, moving her shirt so it wasn't showing off her belly. "To call Nicole."
Dean grabbed a beer from the fridge. "Speaking of which, Sam's number's not working. He's not –"
Bobby shook his head. "Oh, he's alive."
"As far as we know."
Dean's eyes fell to his wife. "Good… wait, what do you mean, as far as you know?"
"We haven't talked to him for months."
"You're kidding, you just let him go?"
Bobby chuckled. "Well, he ain't by himself. Besides, he was dead set on it."
"You should have been looking out for him." The remark was meant for Bobby, but Jax felt the sting of Dean's words.
Her voice was tight with emotion. "We tried. These last months haven't been exactly easy, you know. For any of us. We had to bury you."
"Why did you bury me, anyway?"
Bobby tugged the cap on his head. "I wanted you salted and burned, usual drill, but… they wouldn't have it."
Dean shot Jax a wink. "I'm glad they won that one."
"He said you'd need a body when he got you back somehow."
"What do you mean, Bobby?"
Bobby shrugged under the weight of Dean's gaze. "He just took off, wouldn't return our phone calls. We tried to find him, but he didn't want to be found."
"Damn it, Sammy." Dean ran a hand over the back of his neck.
Jax stood, her back stiff from sitting in the chair. "What?"
"Oh, he got me home okay. But whatever he did, it's bad mojo."
She tilted her head in curiosity. "What makes you so sure?"
"You should have seen the grave site. It was like a nuke went off. And then there was this… this force, this presence, I don't know, but it… it blew past me at a fill-up joint. Then there's this." He set the beer on the counter before pulling up the sleeve of his shirt.
A hand-shaped brand stood out on his shoulder.
Bobby stood from the table. Both he and Jax spoke at the same time. "What in the hell?"
"It was like a demon yanked me out. Or rode me out."
Jax's touch was feather soft as she ran her fingertips over the raised, and sensitive skin. "But why?"
"To hold up their end of the bargain."
"You think Sam made a deal."
Dean nodded at Bobby. "It's what I would have done."