spn_summergen | Fic: In loco parentis (Reply)

Title: In loco parentis
Author:

jargonelle
Recipient:

spn_summergen*
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Thanks to M for betaing! All mistakes are my own. Spoilers through all of season 4, especially 4x19, from which some lines are taken directly or paraphrased. By my reckoning, December 2006 is around the time of ‘Simon Said’ from season 2.

Summary: Adam shows up at the Singer Salvage Yard, looking for his dad.

* Mod note: Where the original recipient has withdrawn from the challenge, stories are posted to the community as a whole.

December 2006

Bobby didn't recognize the kid on his doorstep. He didn't look like a potential customer, didn't look old enough to drive even, nor did he look like a hunter, not with his hands twisted all uselessly in the straps of his backpack and an open, curious expression on his face.

Kid looked alert though, and friendly enough, so Bobby smiled rather than scowled. Didn't mean he wasn't suspicious.

"Hi, can you help me? I'm looking for John Winchester."

Bobby tensed, cursing himself for answering the door unarmed. He had heard about Jim Murphy and Caleb, knew that before John had died both Sam and Dean were worried that Bobby had made himself into a target, even if they had not brought it up directly.

"Christo."

The kid didn't flinch. Frowned, but didn't flinch. That was either a really good or a really bad sign and Bobby wasn't feeling lucky. "Are you Robert Singer? I need to get in touch with John Winchester and was told that he could help."

"Who told you that?"

The kid grinned. "It's kind of a long story."

Bobby wasn't going to let that one slide. "I've got time."

The kid would probably have made a decent hunter. Apparently after John had stopped answering his cell phone – a number Bobby did not have for him, but John had always been paranoid like that – he had tracked down a retired deputy who claimed to have worked with John back in 1990. Deputy Barton then admitted to tracing a call John had made from Barton's phone to one ÔSinger Salvage Yard' and the kid had caught the bus down from Jackson that morning and despite the weather, had walked until he had found the place. It would be impressive, if it were true.

"I'm Bobby Singer," Bobby confirmed. "What are you doing here, kid?"

The kid raised his head, stood straighter. "I'm Adam Milligan. John Winchester's my father and I think he's missing. Thought I was more likely to get a straight answer in person."

Well, damn

"I guess you better come in then. After you."

Bobby wasn't turning his back on the thing.

Bobby poured some holy water into a silver cup and stared at 'Adam' until he drank it. He had also watched him walk unscathed under the Devil's Trap and eat a few heavily-salted chips. Kid was probably human, after all.

Last Bobby had heard, Sam and Dean were still checking into something and were not venturing too far from the Roadhouse. That was a relief. The boys did not need to deal with a case like this.

Not that he trusted the kid's story yet, but Bobby thought he could see echoes of John (and Dean and Sam) in his form. He knew he should swipe some DNA, get a test done. There was nothing left of John but getting something from Dean or Sam would not be a problem. Bobby knew people who could get it sorted, knew there were other ways too, older ways, though those were more likely to require actual blood.

It would not be the first time a hunter had unexpectedly had a kid pop up. Hell, a lot of hunters had not known about Dean and Sam until Dean was old enough to hunt alone. Bobby knew John had hooked up sometimes. He had never heard any rumors about a third Winchester son before though, and he would bet his life that Dean and Sam had not either. He wasn't sure they'd take them well. He wasn't sure he was taking it well.

"So, how do you know my dad?"

Bobby grunted. Lied. "Didn't know John had kids. How'd you know you're his?"

Adam did not seem annoyed by the evasion, rather he seemed eager to explain. "John and me didn't know each other. Not until a few years ago, anyway. Mom's a nurse and Dad came into the ER, pretty torn up – hunting accident, or something – I knew his name, 'John Winchester', that was about it. When I was twelve, my mom finally gave in, called one of his old numbers after I kept begging. God, when John heard he had a son, he dropped everything. He drove all night... He would swing by, once a year or so, called when he could. He taught me poker, pool... even bought me my first beer last year for my birthday and then nothing. Haven't heard from him since. He's a mechanic, came to visit in this beautiful '67 Impala a couple of times, but I guess you know that already...?"

It was just enough to be plausible.

Sam and Dean did not need to hear what they had lost of their father, even before his death. Maybe once a few months had passed, Bobby would tell them, but not before he was certain of the truth. Even if they hated him for not telling them earlier, Bobby would not burden them with it before he was sure. John hadn't told them. It would be cruel to tell them now.

John had not told 'Adam' anything either. If he was for real then he would be safer kept in the dark, Sam and Dean sure knew how to attract trouble, and if he was a trap, then Bobby would take care of it.

"Your Mom know you're here?" That would have been the key, Bobby thought. Right or wrong, that would have been how John could rationalize two completely different lives for his children by two completely different women.

"Don't worry, she thinks I'm at a friend's and I'll be back in time for school on Monday."

Bobby sighed. If he was going to do this, he needed to be careful. Close enough to the truth to satisfy Adam and ensure that he would not go digging for more answers, but not so close as to give the game away. Luckily, he had years of practise at that kind of thing.

"I'm sorry, Adam, but John Winchester is dead. I didn't know him well, but I heard he died in a car crash not too long ago..." It was blunt, but it was easier that way. John had supposedly died in the car he loved. There had been rumors that John had been so in debt that with the Impala totalled, pretty much everything he owned had been destroyed. There were no relatives that Bobby knew of and John's oldest friend had recently been murdered. Did Adam think his mom could drive over and pick him up or did he need Bobby to take him back to the bus station?

Watching two sons of John grieve had been hard enough. Bobby wasn't sure he could deal with a stranger.

The next time Bobby saw the Winchesters, Sam had committed murder while possessed by a demon and Dean was wanted by the FBI. The paternity tests would have to wait.

THE END