20Disclaimer: "Nice work you did. You're gonna go far kid." –The Offspring
A/N: Wow, it's been a long time. Everyone can thank Obi the Kid for this chapter, since we started talking about this collection and the next thing I knew, I was writing this. (I mean, that was a long time ago, but I started it because of her so.)
These one-shots are all unrelated, unless otherwise stated. They will also probably not be precisely canon-compliant. Updates will be sporadic.
Title: We'll Burn that Bridge When We Get to It
Timeline: Post-Nightlife, pre-Moonshine. Season 2, SPN.
"We know a safe place," Dean Winchester was saying softly as consciousness came crashing back to Cal. He groaned loudly and tried to sit up.
Oh, bad idea, bad idea. Not trying that again.
"Cal?" Niko's voice cut through the waves of pain pulsing through his skull. "Cal, can you open your eyes?"
"No," he mumbled, "go away." He cracked an eye anyway, because if Cal was in this bad of shape, he couldn't ignore the possibility that Niko could need help.
His brother looked fine though, not a blond hair out of place, kneeling above Cal's sprawled body as calmly as he would kneel on a dojo mat. Niko had one hand on Cal's chest, as if to prevent Cal from attempting to sit up again.
No need to worry about that, big brother.
"What happened?" he asked, wincing.
"Um," said Sam Winchester. "So maybe we should have warned you that sometimes ghosts like to throw the people who try to get rid of them into walls?" He winced, probably because Niko was glaring at him again. Cal wasn't really sure, he'd already shut his eyes again.
"Oh," he said wryly. "Ouch."
"Yeah," Sam said sheepishly. Cal rolled his eyes and then wished he hadn't. He could feel the symptoms of a concussion washing over him.
"We have a place to stay in the area," Dean said again. "We can go now."
Robin said something to Niko, too quietly for Cal to hear.
"Yes, alright," Niko said finally, still gently pressing down on Cal's chest. "Robin, can you drive my car? I don't want to move Cal anymore than necessary."
That was when Cal realized that he was lying in the backseat of the Winchesters' Impala. It was a nice car, with nice leather seats. He hoped he wasn't dripping blood onto them.
"You're not," Sam said, and Cal must have said that out loud, oops. "And even if you were, it's not like it would be the first time."
Robin leaned over then into Cal's line of sight and said, "I'll follow you guys in that scrap heap Niko calls a car, alright? Don't pass out on your brother now, okay?"
Cal gave him an approximation of a thumbs up and then promptly passed out.
He came to in the car with a stinging cheek and a worried older brother anxiously looking for a sign of life. Not that Niko actually looked anxious but, well.
Cal could always tell.
"I'm okay, big brother," he said, lazily waving a hand at Niko. "Jus'… tired."
"Stay awake for a little bit longer, okay, Cal?" Niko asked.
"We're almost there," Dean said from the front seat.
They pulled up in front of a large building that looked like a cross between a saloon and a barn.
"That's basically what it is," Dean said when Cal mumbled this opinion out loud. They got out of the car, Cal assisted by Niko on one side and Sam's large, gentle hands on the other. Robin was already hurrying towards them, mouth open to complain.
"Save it," Niko cut him off. "A place to rest is a place to rest. And the owners are in the know?" he directed towards Dean.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Ellen and Jo Harvelle are in the business. They're pretty used to us using their place as a safe house," he added wryly.
The lot was empty. "Guess they aren't open yet," Sam commented.
"It's only three," Niko grunted when Cal accidentally stepped on his foot.
"Sorry," Cal mumbled, exhaustion dragging him down with every step. Niko's hand rested briefly on top of his head and then returned to its grasp of his upper arm.
Dean pulled the door open and called, "Ellen? Jo?"
"Dean? Sam? Is that you boys?"
Dean grinned. "Yeah, and we brought a few friends." Turning back to the group behind him, he jerked his head. "Come on in. Welcome to the Roadhouse."
They crossed the threshold and everything went wrong.
A green light flashed overhead. A dark-haired woman in a plaid shirt dove behind the bar and came up holding a shotgun, which she pointed right at Cal. A younger blond woman had a gun of her own, which she aimed at Robin. The Winchesters froze in confusion and Niko's sword flashed out instantly.
"Whoa, what is going on here?" Dean exclaimed.
"Dean, Sam, get away from them," the older woman said.
"What? Ellen, they're friends, we brought them here."
"They aren't human, Dean."
Niko stiffened. Sam felt Cal do the same.
Robin sniffed.
"Of course not. I'm a puck. We are infinitely more attractive, more knowledgeable, and more desirable in every way than humans. And our fashion sense is obviously superior," he added with a raised eyebrow at the plaid worn by Sam, Dean, Ellen, and the girl, who must have been Jo Harvelle.
Jo hesitated, then lowered her gun. Her mother nodded and stalked forward until she was only a few feet away from the group at the door.
"Pucks, I guess can slide. They ain't even worth the bullet it would take to kill 'em. Harmless, sexed-up wannabe, last one I met. Stay away from my daughter though, you."
"As if I'd lower myself," Robin retorted coldly.
Ellen ignored him and turned her attention back to the Leandros brothers. Cal hadn't even bothered to draw his gun, flanked as he was by Sam and Niko. He wasn't sure he could aim straight anyway.
"That amulet," Ellen used the shotgun to point, "is a spell. It warns when something supernatural walks through that door. And honey, I hate to tell you this, but that thing," she pointed the gun back at Cal, "is not human."
She'd gotten too close. Niko's sword flashed through the air and rested at her throat. "Lower your gun."
"He isn't human," she insisted.
"He's my brother. Lower. Your. Gun."
She stared at him in confusion for a moment before slowly dropping her gun. Niko pulled his sword away from her neck, ignoring Jo dropping her own weapon in relief, and reached out to yank Cal behind him. Cal protested half-heartedly, knowing that it really wouldn't stop Niko anyway.
Ellen said, "But… you're human. This amulet only detects the supernatural. You aren't… what it is."
"Cal is half human," Niko said coolly. "And he's no danger to you as long as you're no danger to him. We don't kill humans if we can help it. We don't particularly make a habit out of killing any old non-human we come across either."
Jo stirred. "But it could be dangerous."
Niko's jaw tightened and Dean winced. "Word of advice," he tossed out casually, "maybe don't refer to the angry man's kid brother as it, yeah?"
Jo turned to stare at him. "Don't tell me you knew about this!"
Dean shrugged. "Sure I did. If Sam and I thought these guys were gonna be a problem, we wouldn't have brought them here. Cal's cool, Ellen. And concussed, by the way," he added as Cal began to list to the side. Robin reached out and wrapped an arm around his waist, still fuming about the "harmless, sexed-up wannabe" comment.
Ellen considered for a moment but still shook her head. "It's dangerous –he's dangerous," she corrected herself when Sam sent her a reproachful look. "He is something dangerous, or half of something, whatever. I can't have him loose in here. There are hunters coming in a few hours anyway."
Fed up, Niko nodded tightly. "Of course," he said. "We'll just go. It isn't like we haven't slept in a car before. Come on, Cal." He took Cal's arm again and turned to go, only to stop when Cal pushed aside his jacket to reveal a large gash in his side."
"You liar," Cal said, completely unsurprised. "You said you weren't hurt."
He'd seen the minute wince that anyone else would have missed when he leaned into his brother's side. Apparently that ghost had thrown something sharp, too fast for even Niko to dodge it.
"Mom," Jo said softly. She was sympathetic to the human at least.
"I know," Ellen sighed. She couldn't just turn them out, not with the human bleeding and no place to sleep but a car.
"Isn't there some way you can assure yourself of your safety from Cal's oh-so-dangerous self while letting us stay?" Robin asked, voice pleasantly cool as he pressed a concerned hand to Niko's wound.
Jo and Ellen looked at each other. "Well," Ellen said finally, "there's that cage in the corner." She nodded toward the back of the room. "The bars are reinforced with salt, iron, holy water, and a couple of spells. Even demons can't get out of that. It should hold the kid just fine."
Sam winced, already anticipating Niko's reaction.
"Absolutely not," he gritted out in cold fury. "You are not putting my brother in a cage to soothe some inane fear. We won't be staying. Cal –"
"Done," Cal agreed, staggering forward. "Just point me to my kennel. I'll happily collapse and stay out of your hair for the rest of the night."
"No, Cal," Niko tried. Cal turned back to him.
"Nik," he said quietly. "We need a place. You need to get patched up, and I just need to fall down somewhere and not move for twelve hours. It doesn't matter. So what if I spend the night in a cage or in a locked room or anywhere else? Just let it go, big brother. For once, don't let defending my honor or whatever get in the way of common sense."
Niko's hard eyes had softened during the speech and Cal was pretty sure that it was because of how pathetic he looked. Face drawn and pale (even for Cal), grey eyes drooping with exhaustion. He was on his last legs and Niko could see that.
Evidently Robin could, too, because he made the decision that Niko couldn't bring himself to.
"Alright," he said firmly. "Fine."
Ellen led the way over to the cage silently. Jo grabbed Sam and ran upstairs with him.
Dean scowled. "C'mon, Ellen. This isn't fair."
"Dean, this is my place. I make the rules, and I say that if he's gonna stay here, it's gonna be in that cage." Ellen's voice wasn't unkind, but it was firm and unyielding.
Cal flapped an uncoordinated hand at Dean and slumped into Robin further. " 'S fine, Dean. S'riously. Fine. 'M okay. S'mone look after Niko?"
"Of course," Robin said smoothly, soothingly. "I'll make sure he gets patched up."
Jo and Sam reappeared with arms full of blankets. Ellen's lips flattened slightly, but she didn't argue as her daughter shyly offered her armful to Niko.
"This should make it more comfortable," she said softly. Niko's jaw was still tight, but he took the blankets with a murmured thanks and began building a small nest on the floor of the cage.
"We'll throw the canvas over the top when the place starts filling up," Ellen was saying to Dean. "Nobody will see him and he'll be alright as long as he keeps quiet."
Cal grunted and shoved himself upright, easily evading Robin's startled grab for his elbow. "Great," he said. "Now that that's settled b ." He pushed past Ellen and Dean and into the cage. It was like a huge dog kennel, really. Big enough for him to stand up in and presumably big enough to lie down. "Cozy," he said sardonically. "Can I sleep now?"
Niko reached for and grasped his chin carefully and looked hard into his eyes. "Alright," he said after a moment. "You're probably safe. I'll be waking you for –"
"Concussion checks, yeah, yeah," Cal pulled his head away and crouched down, easing onto his side carefully. "Let Robin fix you up now, will ya?"
Niko rolled his eyes and submitted to Robin's tender ministrations, sitting on one of the Roadhouse's wooden chairs placed in between the bar and Cal's cage.
Ellen and Jo withdrew to argue quietly with the Winchesters.
"Look, boys, I'm not tryin' to be the bad guy here, but I just don't know who these people are. All I do know is that one of them is a potentially dangerous creature and I can't have him in the bar when there's a bunch of hunters in here at the same time. It's as much for his safety as theirs."
"Sure, Ellen, we understand," Sam said, not looking her in the eye. She sighed.
"Come on, hon, I don't want you to be mad about this. The puck is fine, I guess. Not my favorite species, but they don't go on murderous rampages and eat people either, so I don't mind them as much. But I don't know what the other one is at all."
"Half human," Dean pointed out, deceptively mild.
Jo piped up, "Yeah, but we've learned that half is as good as whole when it comes to supernatural things. The monster takes over eventually."
"I," Robin said placidly from Sam's elbow, causing them all to jump in surprise, "would not use that particular word in Niko's hearing. I fear that he would completely lose the already tenuous grasp he has on his temper, and you can be sure that he would let you know of his displeasure." His cool green eyes assessed Jo brazenly and she flushed in spite of herself. He sneered and turned away without a second glance and she felt her heart rate recede. She hadn't been aware that it had increased.
"May I trouble you for a room for the night, ma'am?" Robin asked Ellen, politeness oozing from his pores and sounding disdainful nonetheless. "I'm afraid the other 'monster' accommodations are taken."
Ellen sighed. "Yeah, come on. I'll put you across from the boys."
Robin turned back to Niko, who was standing by the cage door and looking down at his half-asleep brother. "Niko," he called softly. "Come on, there's a room upstairs. With a bed," he added.
Niko shook his head. "I'll be in here with Cal," he said.
Robin rolled his eyes. "It's barely big enough for Cal in there," he said. "You'll be in each other's laps."
Niko shrugged. "Not the first time Cal's slept in my lap," he pointed out.
"N't gonna sl'p in y'r lap," Cal argued dozily. Niko crouched down and tossed his sword into the cage. It landed next to Cal with a quiet thump and Niko followed it a second later. He folded himself into a lotus position and laid a hand on Cal's side. Cal grumbled a little and turned into his big brother's knee.
"Shh," Niko said. "Go to sleep." He looked up at Robin's frustrated face through the bars of the cage. "I need to stay down here with him anyway," he said reasonably. "He's got to have concussion checks every hour."
Robin glared.
"Go upstairs," Niko said softly. "You're right that there isn't much room in here, so there's no need to sacrifice your own comfort needlessly." He swung the cage door shut and the automatic locks clicked into place. He grimaced.
Robin snarled wordlessly and turned on his heel to stomp past Jo and Sam to where Ellen was waiting patiently by the stairs. "If you would be so kind," he gritted out. She led him up without saying anything.
Dean crouched next to the cage to peer at Niko. "I'm sorry, man," he said sincerely. "I thought this would be a good place to rest."
Niko sighed. "I know. It's not your fault." Cal waved a hand at Dean and mumbled something into Niko's jeans.
"What?" Dean leaned closer.
"I said thanks," Cal repeated. "For finding us a place."
Dean's eyebrows scrunched a bit, and he gave Niko a chagrined look of apology. Niko shrugged philosophically.
"He's had far worse," he said.
"Yeah, that doesn't make me feel better," Dean muttered. He stood up and sighed. "Holler if you need anything, okay?"
"Many thanks," Niko murmured, and then his attention was completely focused on his brother, Dean fading from his center of awareness as smoothly as passing scenery from a car window.
I guess that's a sign that he trusts me, he thought wryly, making his way through the maze of tables stacked with chairs to where Sam and a guilty-looking Jo lingered by the bar.
"I'm sorry," she said almost as soon as Dean was within arm's reach, lowering her voice so Niko couldn't hear. "I didn't mean –"
"I know, Jo," Dean interrupted, not unkindly. "The Leandros brothers are… weird."
Sam huffed a laugh. "Weird? That's all you've got?"
Dean rolled his eyes. "Well, they are. Co-dependent, too. And defensive," he added, shooting a glance over his shoulder to the cage, where Niko was carefully stroking Cal's hair with one hand and pointedly cradling his katana with the other.
Sam opened his mouth, possibly to sputter about Dean calling someone else defensive and co-dependent, but at that moment Ellen came downstairs again.
"It's almost nine," she said quietly. "People will be coming in soon."
Sam sighed. "I'll tell Niko that we're going to cover the… the cage." He stumbled over the term, not reconciled to the idea of his sometimes friends actually sleeping in a cage.
"Hey," he said, approaching the barred door awkwardly, hunching his shoulders. It was hard sometimes, being bigger than everyone around him. It made trying to seem apologetic really difficult.
"Time to cover the birdcage?" Niko asked archly, lips quirking into a smirk that held less rancor than before. Sam sighed in relief. An angry Niko was a scary Niko.
"Yeah, man," he said. "Just with this, tarp I guess?" He held up the plastic with a dubious eye roll. Niko rolled his eyes in return and gestured with the hand that wasn't keeping Cal settled.
"Go ahead," he said.
Sam covered the cage and felt sort of miserable for doing it.
000
In the morning, Robin whipped the tarp off the cage with a flourish and Niko uncurled his back and sat up to look at everyone. He waved.
"We do tricks, too," he said.
Jo flushed. Ellen rolled her eyes. Dean and Sam both looked extremely uncomfortable. Niko raised an eyebrow and gestured to Robin.
"Well?" he said. "Open the door."
Robin looked over at Ellen who produced the key without a word and handed it over. Robin jabbed it into the lock with an angry mutter, twisted, and yanked the door open with more force than necessary. Niko hid a grin.
"Wake up," he said to Cal, shaking his brother's shoulder. "Up, Cal, come on."
"Noooo," Cal moaned. He was already feeling like crap. Getting up would just make it worse.
"Yes," Niko said, unsympathetically. "Up, right now. We're leaving."
Cal dragged himself up and rubbed a hand up and down his face. "I feel like I got hit by a truck," he said.
"You've never been hit by a truck, so you don't have anything to accurately compare that to," Niko said calmly. "Get up. I won't ask again."
Cal crawled out of the cage, followed by Niko, and managed to get his feet under him with help from Sam. "Thanks," he said blearily, and then stumbled towards the door. "I'm going back to sleep in the car," he called over his shoulder.
"Fine," Niko said. "Then you can sit in the backseat and Robin can have shotgun this time."
Cal hissed, but didn't argue. Robin rolled his eyes.
"Ah, luxury," he snorted. "In that trash heap you call a car, there isn't much difference between back or front."
"I would have thought you always knew the difference," Dean murmured. Robin laughed.
"If you're finished?" Niko said icily, leading the way to the door of the Roadhouse. Jo caught his arm as he passed her and then let go as if burned when he turned to look at her.
"Sorry," was all she said. Niko nodded slightly.
"Yes," he said, and then stepped out into the sunlight. Cal was waiting by the car, but he trudged up when Niko gestured.
Facing Ellen and Jo, Niko bent down and started removing his shoes.
"Aw, man, come on, Nik," Cal complained.
"Take them off," Niko commanded, dropping his shoes on the ground in front of Ellen and the Winchesters. His sock feet should have made him look vulnerable. Mostly he just looked pissed off.
"Uh, dude, what the heck are you doing?" Dean asked.
"Robin?" Niko said. The puck looked at Niko and then back to the Roadhouse and sighed heavily, but he came forward and started untying his shoes.
"These are genuine leather," he grumbled. "I hope you realize what you've done," he said to Ellen spitefully, dumping his shoes on top of Niko's.
"Not really," she said, confused.
"Dean," Niko said. "Can I borrow the gas can you use for salting and burning?"
"Uh, sure?" Dean said. He trudged off to the Impala and opened the trunk.
Cal said, "Come on, Nik, seriously, this isn't necessary."
"Cal."
"Nik."
"Cal."
Cal threw up his hands. "Alright, fine! But I don't have any spare shoes you know."
"I'll get you some new ones," Niko promised. Cal rolled his eyes and toed his shoes off, kicking them over to the pile on the ground.
"Niko," Sam said cautiously. Dean returned with the gas can and offered it to Niko with some hesitation.
"Yes?" Niko looked at him politely, digging into one of the pockets of his coat and pulling out a lighter. He poured the gasoline on the pile of shoes.
"What are you doing?"
Niko stopped and straightened his shoulders. He turned to stare at Ellen and the Roadhouse.
"And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them."
Sam's eyes went wide and Niko flicked the lighter into flame and tossed it on the shoe pile.
The smell of burning leather filled the air and Niko met Ellen's eyes over the impromptu campfire.
"From the book of Luke," Sam said into the silence. "In the Bible."
"Yeah, Sam, we get it," Dean said tiredly.
Niko turned to him. "No hard feelings," he said calmly. "Give us a call if you need us, or if you're in New York sometime. Come on," he added to Cal and Robin, turning to stroll off to his car, leaving the burning shoes behind.
Ellen's face was like granite. Jo looked like she wanted to be mad but mostly felt embarrassed.
Robin followed Niko, muttering about "genuine Italian leather, worth more than your little cattle station and all of your drinks combined."
Cal was left facing the hunters.
"No hard feelings?" Sam said incredulously. Cal shrugged.
"I think he burned them. He's very zen about that stuff."
Dean snorted. Cal offered Ellen and Jo a sheepish grin.
"Sorry about that. Niko's kind of sensitive about the whole calling me a monster thing. I like your bar. It's… homey."
Jo stared at him incredulously. Ellen's face twitched and then, impossibly, she allowed the tiniest hint of a smile to soften her eyes.
"Thank you," she said.
Cal waved awkwardly and then spun on sock feet and strode over to the car. Sliding into the backseat, he rolled down the window and stuck his hand out to wave again and Niko started driving away.
Dean laughed.
"How old is he again?" Jo asked.
"Twenty going on six," Sam answered with a grin.
"What are you going to do about… this?" Dean asked Ellen, waving his hand at the merrily burning shoes. She eyed the pile for a minute.
"Let them burn," she said finally. "And then spread the ashes around the Roadhouse later."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "What for?" he asked.
"A reminder," she said, "of hospitality." She turned around to stalk back into the bar. "And boys," she barked over her shoulder.
"Yeah?" Dean said.
"Burn that cage."
A/N: I really love Ellen, okay, so please don't think this means I hate her or think she's completely unreasonable, blah blah. But I think that she would definitely take a hard line with human/supernatural hybrids, and she's just trying to keep her family safe. Just because Niko is enormously sensitive about it, doesn't mean that Ellen is a bad person, etc.
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