Stranger

Chapter 29

"Meg."

Nevaeh and Dean share confused looks.

"Last time I saw you, you were thrown out of a window," Sam says, speaking Dean and Nevaeh's thought out loud.

"Just your feelings? That was a seven story drop..."

Sam pauses, looking over at John. "My dad? I don't know where my dad is."

Whatever Meg says on the phone makes Sam reluctantly remove it from his ear and hand it over to John.

"This is John..." John drops his head. "I'm here."

"Caleb?" He frantically says, causing Dean and Sam to snap their heads his way. "Caleb? You listen to me. He's got nothing to do with anything. You let him go."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Nevaeh and Dean share another look. This one sided conversation is really making it hard for them to understand what's going on.

"Caleb? Caleb!"

He paces around the room. "I'm gonna kill you, you know that?" John is quiet, listening to whatever Meg is saying. Then he says, "ok," agreeing to something. Which automatically isn't good. "I said ok, I'll bring you the colt."

Nevaeh's eyebrows furrow. "Like hell you are," she says. She hadn't meant to say it out loud, but what the hell. It doesn't matter. There's no way that gun is leaving their hands.

"It's gonna take me about a day's drive to get there... that's impossible. I can't get there in time and I can't just carry a gun on a plane."

John hangs up the phone. The moment he does, Nevaeh's up from her seat. "She's either a demon, or possessed by one. Doesn't matter. Either way, she isn't getting the colt."

"So what do we do?" Dean asks.

"I'm going to Lincoln," John says.

Dean asks, "what?" at the same time Nevaeh asks "why?"

"Doesn't seem like I have a choice. If I don't go, a lot of people die. Our friends die."

"Dad, the demon is coming tonight for Monica and her family. That gun is all we got. You can't just hand it over," Sam reminds him.

"Who said anything about handing it over? Look besides us and a couple vampires, no one's really seen the gun. No one knows what it looks like."

"So, what, you're just gonna...pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?" Dean asks.

"Antique store."

Nevaeh gives John an incredulous look. "So, you're gonna hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn't notice?"

"Look, as long as it's close, she shouldn't be able to tell the difference."

"Yeah, but for how long? What happens when she figures it out?" Dean asks.

"I just— I just need to buy a few hours, that's all."

"You mean for us," Sam says. "You want us to stay here... and kill this demon by ourselves?"

"No, Sam... I wanna stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school. I want— I want Dean to have a home." With that, he turns around as if embarrassed about admitting that he feels this way. "I want Mary alive. I just—" his voice breaks, "I just want this to be over."

Dean pulls between John's truck. When he cuts it off, he holds his hand out. "Let me see it," he says, and Nevaeh hands it to him. He unwraps it and studies it. "You think it'll work?" He asks, and Nevaeh shrugs. They both step out of the car.