Down the Rabbit Hole

Walk on the Wild Side Part 2

They drove at high speed away from the store. Lacey was sat in the back trying to strap the baby into the car seat.
"What the hell does a shifter want with a baby anyway?" Dean asked from the front seat.
"You tell me." Sam grumbled.
"And how the hell did it find us?"
"Urgh! Can someone else try?" Lacey asked as she struggled with the fastenings. Dean turned around in his seat and tried to help. As he reached out his hand brushed against Lacey's for a moment. Lacey pulled away quickly and scooted back in her seat, giving him room.
"Who designed this thing? NASA?" Dean asked as he was finally able to strap the baby in.
"You know it could have been following me this whole time. Since the baby's house." Sam said as it dawned on him.
"Alright, you know, we got to get off the road. Get Bobby John here some place safe. Figure this thing out."

They had checked into a motel a short way off the highway and Dean was currently changing Bobby John's diaper.
"Okay, alright, you know what? I'll pay you money if you sit still." He told him as he tried in vain to do the diaper up. Sam chuckled from his seat at the table and Lacey glanced up from the book she was reading.
"This is like defusing an IED, with poop! Okay, alright, alright, alright, you are golden Bobby John. Time to hit the hay." Dean picked him up off the bed and began to bounce him on his hip while humming Smoke on the Water. Lacey watched him over the top of her book as he walked across the room. As she followed him with her eyes her gaze met with Sam's who was looking at her with amusement. She cleared her throat and went back to her book.
"Okay, if I put you down, you gonna be a man about it?" Dean said as he lowered the baby into the crib.
"Huh." Sam said as the baby stayed peacefully quiet in the crib.
"What?" Dean asked as he cleared stuff off the bed.
"You're just uh, actually not awful at that."
"Dude, I'm barely keeping that thing alive." Dean joked. Sam shrugged and went back to his research.
"Crap I can't believe I missed this." Sam exclaimed as he examined the pages in front of him.
"What?" Dean asked coming to stand beside him.
"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 and have a chat?"
"I say lets." Dean nodded and Sam got to his feet. They began to walk towards the door before remembering the baby. They both turned to look at Lacey.
"Boy, you're really turning me into repeato girl today aren't you?" Lacey said as she glared at them, shutting her book with a snap.
"Well you could just..." Sam began.
"Not a chance in hell." Lacey told him.
"You go." Dean sighed taking a seat at the table.
"You sure?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure." Dean waved him off. Sam nodded and headed out the door. As the door closed Bobby John began to cry. Dean got to his feet and picked up one of the glasses of whiskey from the table. He took it over to Bobby John's crib before dipping his finger in and feeding it to the baby. A moment later Bobby John stopped crying.
"It's good, isn't it?" Dean smiled. Lacey rolled her eyes.
"Okay I know nothing about babies but I do know they are not supposed to have alcohol." She told him.
"Yeah well it worked didn't it." He shrugged. A second later Bobby John started crying again.
"Spoke too soon." Lacey sighed. Dean picked Bobby John up and started rocking him. It didn't seem to help this time as Bobby John kept crying. Dean kept bouncing him for a few minutes but to no avail.
"Here, will you try for a bit, I gotta use the bathroom." Dean said walking over to Lacey.
"What...but..." Lacey protested, getting to her feet. "Ugh, fine." She held out her arms. Dean leant forward and pressed the baby into her arms. Lacey stepped back as soon as she could, being that close to Dean made her chest hurt. She began to bounce the baby up and down walking around the room. Dean headed for the bathroom, he glanced over his shoulder, Lacey was facing away from him, he reached his hand into her bag and pulled out her phone, before disappearing into the bathroom. Dean closed the door behind him and leant against the counter top. He slid the bar across the screen and unlocked the phone. He didn't really know why he was doing this. There was a time when Lacey had no secrets from him but now, he had no idea where she had been the past year and it didn't seem like she was going to tell him any time soon. Dean didn't relish snooping through Lacey's phone so instead of going through her personal messages he clicked on her photos. The first one that came on the screen was of Lacey and an Asian girl with purple hair. They were sat on a couch with face masks on and rollers in their hair, smiling at the camera. Dean wiped his finger across the screen and the next photo came up. This one was of Lacey and a guy who looked a bit like Sam. They were sitting in a car pulling faces at the camera. Dean let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding and scrolled through a few more. They all showed the same thing. Lacey looking happy and smiling at the camera. Lacey and a red haired guy cooking food on a BBQ, Lacey, hair dripping wet, and a blonde guy posing with surf boards, Lacey and a girl with white streaks in her hair mock glaring at the camera, Lacey throwing a Frisbee for a dog, Lacey and a blonde girl blowing kisses at the camera, Lacey and a guy with black and red eyes playing cards... Dean locked the phone and shook his head. He didn't know what he'd expected to find, but either way it hadn't made him feel any better. He had a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach. He put the phone down on the side and splashed some cold water on his face. As he turned the tap off he realised something was different. The baby had stopped crying. Dean opened the door a crack and looked out. Lacey was still walking around the room, more slowly now and he could hear her singing softly to the baby.
"Two drifters, off to see the world, there's such a lot of world to see, we're after the same rainbows end, waiting round the bend, my huckleberry friend, Moon River and me." Dean couldn't help but smile to himself and his heart fluttered a little. As Lacey's song came to a close Dean opened the door all the way and headed back into the room, dropping Lacey's phone into her bag as he went.
"Hey.." Dean began but Lacey shushed him. She headed over to the crib and put the baby down.
"Wow." She said softly. "I actually did it." She turned around and grinned at Dean, and for a moment it was just like old times. Dean smiled back and put his arm around her. The moment was broken by Dean's phone going off. The baby started crying again and Dean went over to the table and picked up his phone.
"Yeah?"
"I talked to the father." Sam said on the other end of the line. "He checks out. But the baby..."
"Yeah."
"I think the shape shifter is his dad."
"Uh, Dean." Lacey called from over by the crib. Dean walked over and picked him up. The baby was now black.
"You think?" Dean asked sarcastically. By now the baby was crying hysterically. Dean hung up the phone and tried to calm the baby down but it just carried on crying. There was a knock on the door.
"Manager! Everything okay in there?"
"Yeah, no, we're fine. Thank you. Good Night!" Dean yelled.
"There's been complaints. Mind opening the door sir?"
"It's not a good time. Just got out of the shower!" Dean improvised. The door knob rattled. Lacey gave Dean a look and he put the baby back in the crib and went to stand by the door. The door opened and a guy in a police uniform walked in. Dean jumped on him and wrestled him to the ground.
"Get out of the way!" The guy growled, pushing Dean to one side.
"Yeah that's not going to happen."
"That child should be with his father!" The shifter growled.
"Wow, I gotta be honest. I'm not really seeing the family resemblance." Dean told him.
"I'm not just talking about me. I'm talking about our father." Dean slashed at the creature with a knife. It hissed and moved back before lashing out and knocking Dean to the ground. Lacey stepped forward ready to attack but before she could do anything there was a loud noise and the shifter keeled forward onto the floor. Sam was standing in the doorway with a gun in his hand. Lacey jumped backwards as the shifters blood began to spill across the ground. Dean got to his feet and looked down at the body.
"Well, there goes our deposit."