Coping with Bobby's Books
"Ready to meet the others?"
“Yes, Sir, I am.”
"All right then." He opened the bedroom door for Dean, letting him leave the room.
The hunter stepped into the hallway, not sure which way to go. He hesitated, waiting for the older man.
Watari led him to an elevator and up several floors, which opened into one large room. Near was sitting close to L, both typing and occasionally murmuring to each other. Bobby was cracking up at something Mello was saying while Matt was trying to rescue one of the laptops from the chocolate bar that was getting dangerously close to the screen during Mello's descriptions of something. "I leave those two alone for a few moments," the old man muttered then laughed.
Dean stood in the entrance, taking everything in, a grin on his face. He still found himself wishing Sam was there to share in everything. He felt naked at times without him. He shook it off and the grin returned.
Matt looked up and spotted him, waving him over with a bright smile.
Dean moved slowly but headed over to the others.
The red head's grin grew brighter. "Good to see you. Watch out for the carnage of Mello on chocolate."
Dean's grin broadened, “Sugar high, or is it the caffeine in the chocolate?”
"We haven't figured the answer to that one yet." Mello made a face at Matt's answer, grinned at Dean and went back to telling his story to Bobby.
A look of delight covered the older Winchester's face. It had been years since he'd felt so at home and welcomed.
The chatter continued before Matt finally managed to get Mello on track..at least for a little while.
Dean watched everyone for a minute, then spoke, “What exactly is it that you need me to do?”
"We need advice from a non-techy person on what would be the best way to organize all this. As it is, a lot will need translation software that Matty will work on."
“You need to know what each book is about. I”d categorize it by title, author, topic for one thing. If it deals with spells, demons, monsters, ancient gods, whatever....add that category and put it in there. Non-techy types are gonna look for things like that first. Then, if it's a way someone died and a creature in a book or a spell kills that way, then have that in there. We're crazy enough to look for that.”
Matt nodded, making notes.
“List by beliefs...some religions have demigods, demons, imps, and other things that might be found under beliefs. There's millions of ways to label them.”
"Cross referencing..OK." He muttered under his breath, pen racing over the pad of paper.
“You're gonna need a good scanner and take it to Bobby's. We're talking tattoos, carvings, sigils, diagrams, pictures of creatures, and a shitload of other stuff. Need a major section on them. Someone sees something, if they can find the design or picture, it saves a ton of time.”
"We had a team do that already. It's just organizing the mess that's left."
“From over a couple hundred thousand books? Crap!!”
He nodded. "Hence why we need your advice and Bobby's. Though Mello is a bit...distracted."
Dean looked over at the blond. “What's with Mello and Bobby?” He thought they would have been the most unlikely twosome he would see.
"I have no idea, I lost track about an hour ago. Now it's a matter of keeping soggy chocolate off my computers," he growled and pushed Mello's hand away from another laptop.
The hunter stared at Mello and Bobby, a suspicion entering his mind, only to be discarded. Mello could be devious, but so was Bobby, and the older man knew every embarrassing story in his and Sam's entire life. 'Naw,' he thought. 'Bobby wouldn't do that. Give Mello that kind of ammo.'
Dean turned to Matt, “Since when does Mello's chocolate get soggy? He eats it pretty fast.”
"No, he doesn't. A bar of chocolate can last him a while..but he's been putting it into his mouth, forgetting to f*ing bite and gets it both melted and soggy," he growled.
“Dude, even for me, that's gross. Can't you get any idea of what they're talking about?”
"Like I said, I lost track."
“Before you lost track?”
"Something about fishing? I dunno, man, I hate the outdoors shit."
Dean would never have pegged Mello for a fisherman. Sports?”
"Mello is addicted to the outdoor sports and drags me out to play them." It was obvious that Matt was more the computers and gamer type.
The older man watched Bobby and Mello, and could understand Mello's excitement. Bobby's yard was a paradise for kids and teens, and some men to play sports in. Anything was possible there. He grinned, found a seat and sat down before he fell down. He felt a little tired.
Matt pointed at the tea tray, which had tea and snacks. "If you're hungry, munch. Watari keeps the tea hot and snacks fresh. I wouldn't try bugging L and Near yet. They're working on some case from China right now."
Noticing all the sweets on the tray, and not seeing anything that said eat me, he fixed himself a cup of tea. “Yeah, they looked busy. I don't interrupt when I don't need to.”
"My mandarin is rusty, another reason I'm over here working on this database."
At those words, Dean panicked. He looked for Watari. 'Mandarin?'
"What is it?" Matt looked up, handing Dean an apple from the tray and grabbing another handful of jelly beans for himself.
People who work for L....do they have to know different languages?”
"Just the students at Whammy's House," he answered.
“Okay, so if he took someone and made them a Whammy, they wouldn't be required to know them?
Matt shook his head. "Nope."
“Okay. How many languages do you know?”
"Last count, about seven or so. Working on three more on my spare time."
“You can learn three or more at once?”
Goggle covered eyes looked at Dean. "From the moment we stepped into Whammy's, we were taught to learn in the most efficient manner possible. All of us have IQ's of extreme levels, Dean. Just don't let it intimidate you, OK?"
“Okay, I guess I've grown so comfortable around you guys that I'd forgotten just how smart you really are. Being reminded can be a little overpowering.”
He chuckled. "Now you know why most of us tend to stay with our own group."
“Yeah, but you do what others do also, you know. We all tend to judge people because they aren't like us instead of knowing them first. You did that to me. I did it to you in another way. I didn't consider your brains, just that you were rude and arrogant and needed an ass whupping. Hell, we were all wrong. It's stupid to judge what you don't know You weren't really rude and arrogant...well, maybe a little, but it was your brains that made you that way. I hope you know and understand now that normal people can think and do things on their own. I learned that all three of you have emotional needs and desires just like I do. Smart ass? Yeah, but so am I.”
He grinned. "You went after the boss. L...I can't begin to tell you what that man means to all of us," he murmured softly.
“Well, I hope you can see where I was coming from. I'm a hunter, with a lot of weight on his shoulders. I have a lot of things I have to tend to. I was worried about my brother, some junk I was being expected to tend too, a rotten past that was literally destroying my life. All I had wanted was a few days with my brother to just rest for a while. I was tired. L blackmailed us...big time. I don't like being pushed and made to do what I don't want to do. I fight that. I end up here, dealing with you three, and an enigmatic man who was trying to be what he wasn't. My brother goes, well...then Ruby, the creatures, Sometimes, you fight back just to remain sane.”
"L gets what he wants," he said with a grin.
“Yeah, but not quite what he expected,” Dean returned the grin.
"Probably not but it makes life that much more interesting."
“Yeah, it does.”
“If he'd just called us, explained the situation, sent us the file, the pictures, and stuff, we would have come. It's what we do.”
Matt looked at him. "Would you? We've read over the reports. Sometimes, even if information was given, you've avoided things to stay on this hunt for this one particular demon..especially since your brother is being guided by Ruby. L..has a habit of strong arming new contacts because he can't predict with 100 percent accuracy what they will do. Better to get them angry enough to come to him or his agent."
“Yeah, I would have. I'm a hunter. Sometimes we've had to pick between hunts, but something as drastic as what L had, I would have come. I have no idea what Sam would have done, but I certainly don't work with Ruby. She's helped sometimes, but I always felt she had an agenda. She only came after me because Sam needed her blood, and I wasn't going to let her near him. I've been told by Cas that there are 666 seals that can be broken. I have no idea what's a seal and what's not We just may have stopped one. Only 66 have to break. To understand these things, I want Lilith alive long enough to figure them out. Then she dies.”
Matt nodded. "That's what L is working on."
“Is he? Damn! I'd like to be a part of that. With this injury, I don't stand a chance of being a part of any of it.”
"No, you don't want to. Not at this level. I'm sure you'll be a part of it later though." He tapped the screen. "Okay, what the hell would you classify this as?" It was a random piece on certain protections but didn't specify as to what.
Dean told him where it ought to go. “Do you know who Lilith is? What she is? She's the first demon, one of Lucifer's generals. She strong, protected, and not easy to get to at all. Most of the time, she take the bodies of little girls. You want to torture a little girl, knowing the child is still in there? You need me.”
A piece of candy, thankfully in its wrapper, hit the back of Dean's head with unerring accuracy. L had overheard and had thrown it. "Such actions are damaging to Dean's mental health."
Dean took off the wrapper and popped the candy in his mouth, knowing he was going to get a reprimand from Watari but he was frustrated and angry. “L, I appreciate that, but this is a very powerful demon. You do not have the skills to deal with her. You don't know what to look for. You might miss something important.”
Dark eyes narrowed somewhat. "I am a very quick learner. You will not be involved in this aspect. Watari agrees."
“L, learning isn't enough when you go after a demon of this level. They are powerful. It's what I do, L. I want to get well, L, but this is my job.”
A finger was held up. "You were implying getting information from my...guest..for the lack of a better word. As far as going after this one, I will send out a party, with you at the head, when you are physically ready. Understand?"
“I was talking about Lilith, not Ruby. You already said you were going to extract information from her. I'm cool with that. I know I'm not ready a for one-on-one with Ruby...not after the queen's chamber. Okay? But I want Lilith. I appreciate you're letting me head the group that goes after her.”
L nodded, going back to his computer, satisfied that the argument was settled for now.
Dean watched the scanned pictures being placed in their rightful areas on the computer when one came up that startled him. “Wait! What does that say about that amulet?” Dean started fingering the black rope material around his neck.
Matt frowned, going back and enlarging the document.
Dean leaned over and started reading. “God indicator? What the hell does that mean? Bobby, you gave this to Sammy to give Dad years ago. He gave it to me instead. What the hell does that mean, and where did you get this?”
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