Bella circled halfway around Central Park to avoid Heather.
Partway through her walk, her steps halted. Peering carefully, she spotted a familiar face behind a tree: old John Winchester, father of Dean and Sam Winchester.
What was the man doing skulking behind a tree?
Bella's mind churned with questions. As far as she knew, Dean and Sam were tearing across the country looking for their father. You're not going to link up with your sons, and instead you're hanging around Central Park? What's the point?
She kept quiet and followed John Winchester's gaze to its target: a fair-skinned, tall young man.
The young man was lanky, standing out as somewhat thin among a crowd of overweight American youths. He'd clearly taken a liking to the camp's demigod role-play and was currently wielding a short sword and round shield, practicing enthusiastically with his companions.
Who's that? Bella had no idea. She walked over and greeted the stubble-faced man.
"Hey, John. Long time no see."
"Hey, Miss Swan." The older man's tone was perfectly casual.
Bella studied the young swordsman in the distance. She'd known the Winchester family for years, and now she could see echoes of both brothers in this young man's features.
"Is that...?" She had her suspicions, but asked anyway.
John Winchester didn't answer directly. He just smiled. "His codename here at the shelter is Son of Hermes. Hahahaha..."
Bella nodded. She understood completely. This was John's son.
Old John looked all upright and righteous with his strong brow and honest face, yet he'd somehow fathered a third boy without anyone being the wiser.
Bella had always respected John Winchester. She'd assumed that after his wife was killed by a demon, his relentless crusade across the country was driven by vengeance, by devotion to her memory. Now that this son had appeared out of nowhere, a good chunk of that respect evaporated.
She didn't believe a man was obligated to spend the rest of his life alone after losing his wife.
Finding someone new after your wife's death, remarrying, perfectly normal. Nobody could fault him for that.
Judging by the young man's age, he looked a few years younger than Bella and Sam. That meant John must have met the boy's mother after his wife's death. Neither the son nor the mother were the problem.
The problem was John himself.
Dean and Sam were sick with worry over him. The two brothers were risking their lives, searching the entire country for their father. And here he was, watching his youngest play with swords. Bella found it genuinely hard to stomach.
They were on completely different wavelengths. She had nothing more to say to this hypocritical middle-aged man and turned to leave.
"You've misunderstood John. He isn't as wretched as you think. Everything he does is for his children, Miss Swan."
An aged voice materialized to Bella's left. She turned to find a white-haired, white-bearded old man standing beside her. A patch covered his right eye, and his expression was solemn. His face was deeply lined with age, yet his frame was large, and despite the unmistakable frailty of years, he still cut an imposing figure.
His clothes were unremarkable: a plaid shirt under a khaki jacket, linen trousers, and simple cloth shoes.
He seemed to have been standing there all along. And yet he also seemed to not be there at all.
Everything around them had frozen the moment he spoke. Far in the distance, 007 appeared to be mid-sentence with his trainees. John Winchester beside her was still gazing at his youngest son. Only Bella's stunned eyes and slightly stiff neck were still moving.
The old man's entrance had shocked her rigid.
His true identity sent a chill down her spine. Surely 006's little summer camp hadn't warranted the attention of someone at this level?
He wasn't wearing armor. He wasn't carrying a spear. But she recognized him instantly. This was Odin. Not 006 lost in his Zeus delusion, but the genuine article: Odin, God-King of the Norse pantheon.
Bella capitulated immediately. She stopped dwelling on John Winchester's apparent favoritism for his youngest over his two eldest sons. Let it go. None of it was her business.
She made a show of deliberation, then said, "You make a fair point. Perhaps John does have his reasons."
The white-haired Odin turned his gaze toward John Winchester, still within the normal flow of time. "John is a good man. A good husband and a good father. I've known him for nearly twenty years. He has poured everything he has into protecting his children, determined to keep them from harm."
Odin looked at Bella. "Miss Swan, can you appreciate the depth of love in that? Parents always love their children. That love should never be measured by law, morality, or conventional values. Love is simply love."
Bella had no idea why a being of Odin's stature would suddenly seek her out for a chat. Can't you go bother the Ancient One instead?
Odin hadn't displayed any mind-reading ability, but absence of evidence wasn't evidence of absence. The man was max-level. Of course he could read minds if he wanted to.
Bella reined in her thoughts, submerging every stray idea beneath the surface of her Mind Lake. This was her strongest psychic defense state: immensely powerful shielding, but with one drawback. She couldn't mask her true feelings. In this mode, whatever she was thinking would come straight out of her mouth.
Once the Mind Lake settled, her tone turned cold.
"Love is a virtue, but it shouldn't be used as an excuse. I don't know whether you've met Dean and Sam. Dean idolizes his father and has spent his whole life deliberately trying to be just like John. Sam's relationship with John was rocky, but the moment he heard his father had gone missing, he abandoned his studies and set off down a road full of thorns. Does their love deserve to be ignored?"
Odin's face was deeply aged, and he made no effort to conceal it. He didn't answer her question directly. Instead, he began recounting what he'd been doing these past two days.
"Yesterday, or perhaps the day before? John came to find me. We took a pair of FBI credentials and went to investigate a case together. Isn't that interesting?"
The All-Father suddenly turned impish, like an old man who'd never quite grown up.
Bella nearly dropped out of her Mind Lake state. Interesting? All she felt was pity for the FBI. She could not begin to picture Odin flashing an FBI badge, and the entire mental image warped into something deeply surreal.
"When Kronos broke free, he punched a gaping hole through time... That day, John and I tracked down a young man with precognitive abilities. The tangled disruptions across the timeline had driven him insane. A real shame."
Bella said nothing. She didn't spare a thought for Kronos or the precog. She simply listened.
Odin didn't linger on the young man's case. It seemed to be just context, because he quickly circled back: "Do you know why John chose to go missing, to force Sam onto the path of demon hunting?"
Bella considered the question, then answered honestly. "No, I don't."