The Winchester Code

Chapter 14 - Shadow Knights

Shadow Knights

Chapter 14

“Silver bullets?” Dean asks. I nod, clipping the magazine.
“You ready?” I ask my brother. Twenty minutes ago we witnessed a man enter the Jackson household. His profile matched that of which I've seen many times in my visions.
“Yeah, you?”
“Let’s go.” I hold my gun pointed at the ground. I walk with quick, careful steps up to the door. Dean reaches for the handle. Of course it’s locked. He cocks his head at me and I roll my eyes, flicking the safety on my gun tucking it away. I grab out my lock pick and kneel in front of the door. Dean diligently covers me.
Another two minutes later and we are inside the house. I follow Dean down the hall, sweeping the area. I turn to the kitchen, making sure that no one is in there. There is a cake baking in the oven and dishes piled in the sink. I give Dean a small signal as the clock catches my attention. 3:49. We have four minutes.
“Why are you doing this? I hear Karen sob. Dean and I look at each other and together, we quietly walk down the hall. “What do you want from me?”
I hug the gun to my body as I shimmy along the wall. I stop just short of the doorframe and keep my breathing steady.
“Please.” She begs. “No more.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.” I tighten the grip on my gun at the man’s words.
“No!” She screams. “Stop!”
“MUMMY!” Someone yells behind me. I see a little boy charge through the door. He looks excited, if not a little frightened. This isn’t supposed to happen.
“Henry!” Karen calls. Dean moves past me and points his gun inside the room. Henry stops short when he sees us.
“SHADOW KNIGHTS!” He screams, turning around. I watch Zaviana burst through the door. Her red shirt is undone and she has my backpack slung over her shoulder. She holds a gun unsteadily in front of her.
“Sam!” Dean shouts. I blink and turn, following him into the room. The mystery man is holding a knife to the neck of a terrified Karen.
“Turn around, boy.” The man says to my brother.
“Sorry.” Dean answers. He somehow makes it sound like a joke, despite the high tension of the situation.
“Shh,” I hear Zai behind me. I don’t take my eyes off Karen or the man.
“I will hurt her.”
“Why?” I ask, trying to draw the sound away from the little boy sobbing behind in the hallway.
“I don’t want to.” He says, running the knife across her neck, just hard enough to draw blood. “But I will.”
I try to think of anything that would defuse the situation. I decide to take a risk, hoping that it would pay off.
“Ok.” I relax my gun. Dean glances at me. “Let her go.”
“I wish I could.” The man says. He presses the knife firmer into her neck. My muscles tense and I have to fight myself from raising the gun again. It would be a quick way to kill the woman. I try to think of anything to distract him.
My eyes fall to the clock on the table. 3:52.
“Why can’t you?”
“It’s my job.”
“Sammy!” Dean hisses. I relax the gun even more, letting it slowly drop to my side. “Alright –”
“Time’s up.” The man cuts off Dean.
“NO!” I shout as the man grips the blade. He shifts his arm and I hear a loud bang. I watch as the knife drops and skewers Karen Jackson in the stomach. Blood pours from both her and her assailant.
“MUMMY!” Henry screams. He runs towards her, but I grab him as he passes. There are tears running down his face and he continues to scream, kicking against me. “NO! MUMMY!”
I forcefully turn him around to face away from the bloody mess of dead people.
“Zai?” Dean asks gently. I keep my grip on the kid and look at the teenager. She is still holding her gun in front of her. Her hands shake but the rest of her body is so stiff that she could pull the trigger at any second. The shakes spread throughout her body and she trembles all over, her skin dangerously pale. Dean talks to her, but she doesn’t respond.
“Mummy.” Henry sobs into my suit.
“Dean!” Someone says behind us. I turn to see Cas walking down the hall. Henry tenses beneath me.
“SHADOW KNIGHT!” He screams, wriggling from my grip. He runs to Zai and squeezes under her arms that are still outstretched holding the gun. He uses them as a barrier between him and Cas.
Zai slowly turns. Her eyes widen when she sees the angel, the sight making her tremble even more. Henry turns underneath her arms and buries his face in her stomach.
“Zavia.” I caution as she raises the gun a little. “Zaviana!”
BANG
Henry screams and covers his ears. Cas looks down at his chest where he was just shot. Being an angel, the bullet has no effect on him.
“What the crap.” She whispers. Cas takes another step forward and grabs the gun. He wrestles it from her hands and she stops shaking, completely paralysed. Castiel turns from her and looks at Dean, still trying to grab the pistol.
“Cas.” He sounds concerned. “Karen…” Cas nods and without a word, he walks over to the woman, lying dead on the floor. I follow and stare as he puts his hand on her open wound. A bright light streams from his fingers and a moment later, Karen is alive again.
“Mummy!” Henry screams, running from Zai to Karen.
“Henry?” she blinks, looking around confused. She grips her son as her gaze falls upon the dead man.
“Cas.” Dean hisses. Castiel turns back to him. Zai has gone from looking like she’s about to kill someone, to about to throw up everywhere. Cas walks past and she doesn’t even register. Dean leads the angel to the kitchen.
“Zai.” I probe gently, taking the couple of steps to reach her. She stares at the man lying on the ground; at Karen clutching her son, crying just as much as he is.
“Zai.” I say again, putting one hand gently over hers, hoping to keep her from shooting anyone else. “Can you hear me?” I work the pistol out her hands and it’s as if I took away the wall she was leaning on. She falls forwards into me, shivering with tears rolling down her cheeks. She lets out a choked sob and I pat her back. “Shh.” I tell her uncomfortably. “Shh.”
I spot Dean over her shoulder.
‘Do something!’ I mouth. He smiles and Cas steps out from behind him.
“Right.” Dean says. “Zai.”
Another round of violent sobs rack her body.
“Zai,” He says again, “I’m going to take you outside, ok?”
She nods against me shoulder, still shivering, unable to respond with words. Dean puts his hand on her shoulder and leads her outside. I watch him carefully close the door and I turn back to Cas.
“Get away from us!” Karen shrieks.
“Wow, wow!” I say, putting my hands out. “It’s ok.”
“You too!” She shouts. Without hesitation, Cas places a hand on both her and her sons foreheads. They fall asleep on each other.
“They will wake up in three minutes.” Cas explains. “They won’t remember anything.”
“Ok.” I nod. It’s for the best. “Cas, could you, ah, get rid of the body?”
“Of course.”
“I take it you didn’t introduce yourself to the girl?”
“No.” Cas answers. “I never got the chance.”
“Right, well, now might be a good time.” I give him a pointed look. “Be gentle. And, the body first.”
“Ok, Sam.” He leans over the body and touches his hand to the man’s forehead. The man disappears in the blink of an eye and Cas straightens.
“Mm…” Karen mumbles. Cas looks at me before walking out.
Karen stirs and I walk over. She slowly opens her eyes and blinks a couple of times.
“Sam? What happened?”
“What do you remember?” I ask as she blinks confused.
“Well,” She says, her eyebrows knitting together. “I was… baking a cake for Henry’s birthday. Then a… a man came in and, uh, attacked me. He – he dragged me and tied me to the chair, and I, ah… I can’t remember anything else.”
I let out my breath.
“Henry!” She says, but quickly realises that he is right next to her.
“Mum?” He asks, putting a hand on his head. “I feel funny.”
“You were hit on the head. Both of you.” I say quickly. “You passed out.”
“Are you alright, Henry?” Karen asks.
“Yeah.” He says, leaning against her.
“You’re not from the solar company, are you?”
“No.” I smile. “I’m an undercover cop. That man that attacked you, me and Dean, we’ve been hunting him for a long time.”
“Ok.” She says slowly, standing up. “Wow.”
I put my arms out to stead her.
“Mummy, your face is bleeding.” Henry tells her. She reaches up and gingerly touches her bloody lip.
“Honey,” She tells her son, “Come with me and we’ll get cleaned up. What happened to your eye?”
“Dale punched me.”
“Sam.” Karen sounds almost apologetic. “I’m sorry, but –”
“I’ll leave.” I tell her.
“No, I –”
“Mummy!” Henry interrupts. “Where’s Zai? Zai!”
“Who’s Zai?”
“She was looking after Henry.” I say quickly. “She’s getting, um, debriefed.”
“She’s got to stay for my cake!”
“Oh my god,” Karen exclaims. “The cake!” She moves, but I stop her again.
“Karen, go get cleaned up. Clean up Henry, I’ll check on the cake.”
“You will stay for some, won’t you?” I look away. “Come on, you saved my life. Have some cake.”
“I don’t think-”
“Give me your number, I’ll call when we are ready.”

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Four and a half hours later and we are back at the Jackson household. Henry had dragged Zai away, but as it draws closer to nine, Mrs Jackson goes to fish her son away from her and take him to bed.
“So,” Dean says, sitting across from me in the little yellow kitchen’s table. “I think that Zai needs some rest. I’ll take her back to the motel.
“Um,” I say slowly, standing up. “Ok.”
“Sit down, Sammy.” He demands with a smile. He stands up and meets Karen as he leaves the kitchen. “Thank you so much for your hospitality, Mrs Jackson.”
“Oh,” She says, her eyes sliding to me. “You’re both leaving?”
“Just me, actually.” Dean corrects, demanding her attention again. “I’ve gotta take the new recruit back to the station. Sam will stay. You know, make sure you’re safe.”
“Oh!” She sounds a little more excited. “You are most welcome then, Dean.”
“Yeah, well, we better, um, go.”
“Of course.” She wraps her arms around him. “Thank you for saving me.”
“All part of the job.” He answers, winking at me over her shoulder. He walks out the kitchen, calling Zai’s name.
“So…” Karen turns to me. “Undercover cop, huh?”
“Uh,” I say, “Yeah. My brother and I are in it together. It’s sort of the family business.”
“Ah, ok.” She nods knowingly. “So your mum or your dad?”
“Dad.” I answer, trying not to think back to all the hunting trips that he had dragged us into as children. “He got us into this.”
She comes and sits down next to me, watching me closely as I repress the thoughts that John Winchester stirs up. “You’re so guarded.”  
“What?”
“Guarded, reserved. I’ve seen it before. You hide your emotions, Sam. You’ve been hurt.” I don’t respond and she reaches for my hands. “I’m a grief counsellor in the local hospital. I sometimes work with the church. Sam, I’ve seen people like you. You wear the mask of a man that has seen too much. It's similar to those suffering from PTS.”
“I’m fine.” I answer quickly. “If you want to talk to someone about grieving, you should talk to my brother.”
“Sh, Sam. I can see how much you worry about him. But Sam, you need to look after yourself.”
Her eyes are so sinceer and I try to keep my thoughts straight. “I do.”
“That girl,” She shakes her head. “I guess this job, even the training, I guess it messes you up.”
Her smile is mesmerising and I can hardly keep myself from staring. “Karen…”
“Shh.” She cups her small hand along my cheek, welcoming and warm. “It’s ok not to be ok.”
I lean in kiss her. It’s been a long time since I’ve kissed anyone and her lips feel soft against mine. Without breaking, she grabs my hands and pulls me up. I bump my hip on the side of the table but my pained gasp is muffled by her mouth. She wraps her arms around my waist and I get the feeling that she has craved this type of human contact just as much as I have.

*************************************************************************************************

“Zai,” Dean asks as I walk out of the house. He had found me sitting on the porch banister when he informed me it was time to go. “You ready now?” I had ventured back inside to grab my jacket. I swing it in front of Dean’s face as I walk past him, making the sight of it my answer. We make our way to the car.
“Hey,” He asks as he unlocks the Impala. “Are you ok?”
The scene that had met me in the Jackson kitchen consisted of Mrs Jackson propped up on the counter and Sam passionately making out with her, his big hands intertwined in her hair, his body pushed against hers.
“Yeah.” I lie, sliding into the passenger’s seat. “I’m fine.”
“No you’re not,” Lucifer says behind me. I bite my lip to keep myself from responding.
“If you’re sure.” Dean sighs, shoving his keys into the ignition.