of evil and mario iii
title: of evil and mario iii
author:
dev_earl
author’s notes: the last installment of the series. so feedback and crits on the overall thing would be lovely.
disclaimer: I would so give away my firstborn to own Dean Winchester, Angel, Spike and Sam Winchester and everything in between. But I don’t. Own them, I mean.
summary: Angel, Dean and Faith are in a hurry to salvage Sam from a demon-possessed Lindsey who could be doing anything and everything to him to get to Dean. Spike lost to Sam in a video game the latter had never played before.
wordcount: 2782
Of Angel and Mario III
“Sammy! Sammy, wake up!”
Sam awoke with a jolt, cold beads of perspiration wetting his face. It was fairly dim and the air was humid. He suddenly felt thirsty. But only for a short while. Only before he registered the tone of the voice that had awakened him. Sam squinted to see clearly. The face was vague but there was no mistaking who he was seeing.
“Dad. Is that you?” his voice was awfully hoarse.
John was smiling weakly, he could tell. “Who else could it be?”
“But, you’re…I mean, you were…”
“I know,” John stepped closer now, still blurry, “It’s ironic how I turn out to be a ghost, huh?”
Sam didn’t know why he didn’t move. Ghost or no ghost, he wanted to hug his dad. “You are? You really are? How could this be?”
John shrugged, his expressions now clearer to Sam. “Perhaps there’s something I need to say to you boys before I…move on.”
“But, Dean…” Sam blinked. “He’s not here…”
“I know,” John nodded. “It’s amazing how much you know and see when you’re…gone. And that’s exactly what I’ve to talk to you about, Sam. I know. I’m not sure when and how but I do. It sort of hit me like a ton of bricks but when I think about it,” he shrugged, almost wearily, “I guess I’ve seen it coming. You boys are awfully close even when it was the roughest times. And you banter more like an old married couple rather than brothers.”
Sam, with his certified genius IQ and all, knew precisely what his father was talking about. The thing baffling him was how his dad came to know all these things when he was barely around when they were growing up, let alone took time to see how he and Dean interact.
John practically read his mind. “I know it’s weird, even for us, but it’s like all this information gets downloaded into my brain once I…you know, drew my last breath.”
Sam was almost afraid to ask. “Aren’t you mad that it happens?”
“It’s not like you get to choose who you fall in love with, Sam. When it happens, it happens. At least we all know for sure that you two would never hurt each other, even for an iota. That you are in love with someone you know the most and who understands you the most. That understands and get what you’re doing for a living. Isn’t that the most important?”
“But, isn’t it wrong, Dad?” Sam frowned.
“There are no absolutes in this world, Sammy. Sometimes, most of the time, there are shades of gray. And you should just live with it. Because it will always be just that. Gray.”
“So you’re saying I should just go for it?”
“I’m saying you both should know what you have and value it, no matter how it seems like to the outside world. Especially living like us; we should treasure every second we have with our loved ones because we, of all people, could never expect when we’d go. Unless you save our butts with that psychic power of yours.”
It sounded like a joke but Sam wasn’t so sure. John never joked.
“It is me, son,” he assured, reading Sam’s mind again.
“What are we going to do about you? Are you going to stay like this forever?” Sam was shocked at how child-like his voice had sounded.
“We’ll think about it later. But right now, you need to,” John stepped up and swung a punch at Sam’s face, “wake up!”
Sam snapped out with a jolt again. It was a dream within a dream. Only right now he wished it was a dream again. Staring down at him, Lindsey was grinning ear-to-ear.
“Hello, Sammy…” he drawled, “Did I wake you?”
///
“Angel,” Faith chuckled, hugging him. “It’s been a long time.”
Angel, smiling wide, released her from his embrace and ran a gaze over her pretty face. “It has. What are you doing here?”
She shrugged, her lips still curled up in a smile. “Heard about the havoc that went on a few months back. Thought you might need some help but apparently you’ve taken care of it all. So I hung back.”
“You’ve been in L.A a while and you never visit me?”
“What can I say?” she grinned. “The big, bad, high-tech building you live in scares me.”
Dean squirmed. “We should get going, Angel. I’m afraid we’d lose his track.”
Faith blinked. “Relax, big guy. You’re hunting a demon that leaves about a sort of musky, pungent smell, right?”
“She’s ripe for mating,” Angel nodded, his expression indifferent.
Dean’s eyes went wide. “You didn’t mention that before.”
Faith smirked. “I’ve been following her for over a week now. I was tired waiting for some vamps to show up. I think she stopped not too far from here. I could take you there.”
“Please,” Dean choked. His mind were playing images of what the demon could be doing to his brother as they were treading shallow puddles of water in the sewer.
“I’m Faith, by the way,” Faith smiled, glancing over her shoulder at Dean.
Dean passed her a quick, small smile. “Dean.”
Her movement was lithe, almost sensual. Her long wavy mane bobbing at the middle of her back as she maneuvered her way in the near dark. “You been a demon hunter long, Dean?”
“Since I was four,” his tone was hard.
She cocked her head appreciatively. “That’s long. You must be really good.”
“Most of the time,” he cocked his head in return.
“Faith here’s a vampire slayer,” Angel said, following close behind.
“Should’ve been the vampire slayer. But hey,” she smirked, “I don’t mind a little competition.”
Dean’s eyebrow shot up. “She’s a vampire slayer and you’re best friends with her?”
“Dude,” Faith laughed. “He’s been a whole lot more than best friends with a slayer before.”
Dean watched as an uncomfortable look crept up Angel’s face when Faith halted under a manhole opening. He could hear the distant roars of traffic from above the road.
“She climbed up here,” Faith shoved a thumb upwards.
Dean’s jaw hardened. “You let her loose in public?”
“She’s really harmless,” she shrugged nonchalantly.
“Right now she could be very well ripping my brother’s head off,” Dean seethed.
Angel stiffened. He knew where they were. And precisely where Lindsey was going. He stepped in between Dean and Faith, his feature grim.
“He’s headed to Spike’s place.”
///
Sam tried hard to move but discovered he was once again mystically locked to the couch. From the corner of his eyes he could see that Spike was pinned down as well. Lindsey was doing nothing except looking down at them from where he was standing, his facial expression unfathomable.
“Just so you know, Lindsey,” Spike grunted. “I’m a classic heterosexual vampire. So if you’re thinking about holding some sort of a bondage party, count me out. Way out.”
Lindsey narrowed his eyes. “Somehow I find that very hard to believe. You and Angel always exude a sort of sexual tension everywhere you go,” his tone was thoroughly leering.
“That’s just tension,” Spike snapped.
“Are you sure?” Lindsey grinned. “Because you carry loads of it, you two.”
Spike looked as if he was ready to switch back to his liquid diet. “I am sure.”
Lindsey looked so pleased that it annoyed Sam to no end.
Gritting his teeth, he sent Lindsey a murderous glare. “What do you want from my brother?”
“What do you think I want, Sam? Come on, you’re smart. Underneath all that shaggy mop of hair, you have some brains, don’t you? Take a guess.”
Sam scowled. “You don’t deserve him. Never.”
Lindsey brought his face so close to Sam’s that their warm, rapid breaths mingled. “I fucking love him, Samuel. I’ve loved him for a long time. Long before you were even aware of those petty emotions you have inside you. You don’t deserve him. You take him for granted all the time. You left for school, find yourself a girlfriend, even having the guts to think about getting married, to walk away from your family, from Dean. All he ever wanted when he came for you was for you to be with him when he was feeling most lost. But all you could think about was how much you wanted your normal life back. The plastic fairy tale you conjure up in that psychic brain of yours. Tell me, Sam. If you’re so psychic, how is it you can’t tell how much he feels for you? How could you leave him hanging like that? I deserve him a whole lot more than you do, Sam. You don’t even know what you have. So tell me what makes you think you’re more worthy of him than I do.”
“For one thing, you’re a freaking demon-slash-zombie,” Spike snorted.
“Oh, shut the hell up. You screwed a vampire slayer,” Lindsey replied testily.
“Hey!” Spike widened his eyes. “At least she’s not bloody rotting!”
Lindsey beamed. “I wouldn’t be for long.”
Sam’s voice was slightly shaking. “Why him? Why Dean?”
“Basically, Lindsey chose him years ago. And I could do nothing but agree.”
“What are you going to do to him?”
Lindsey’s grin widened. “He’s going to be the father to my offspring. He’ll sire each and every one of them with his exceptional brute and sharp wits. Not to mention remarkable good looks. Your brother, the great champion will provide me with the perfect children that will later take over this puny world of yours.”
“That hurts.”
Angel was leaning on the doorway with a swaggering stance.
“Come again?” Lindsey chuckled lightly. “Do I sense jealousy here?”
“I’ve always, always been the one called the champion.”
“Don’t take it personally, Angel. But I couldn’t have possibly picked you. You’re sterile.”
“Still,” Angel shrugged, hurling the battle axe in his hand with deadly precision and speed, cutting off Lindsey’s head and spraying curdled blood all over Spike and Sam, “the champion.”
Spike grimaced, almost gagging. “Oh, gross,” he groaned, inspecting his blood-spattered shirt.
From behind Angel, Faith passed Dean a look. “Well, that was fun to watch.”
///
“You must’ve done that on purpose.”
Angel collected his battle axe from the floor and sighed. “I just wanted to cut the guy’s head off, Spike.”
“Still,” Spike scowled, motioning to his shirt. “It must take two years to get rid of this blood stain. Not to mention the smell. This is a brand name.”
Angel stood at his full height, glared at Spike and sighed again. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
Spike smiled for a split second. “I need two,” he held up two fingers, lifting his eyebrows.
Angel made a face, shook his head and turned his attention to Faith, ignoring Spike. “You really don’t want to stay? I could have someone set up a place for you.”
She smirked. “I have to go. Not used to be tied down. I’m not the stay-at-home type, remember?”
“Well, you make sure you take care of yourself.”
“I will,” she nodded. And for a while, she stepped up as if to hug him then decided against it. Turning around, she found Dean standing at the corner of the room next to his brother. She wasn’t sure of an expression to put on and so she kept a straight face.
“So you’re leaving?” Dean asked, expression just as vague.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’m used to being on the move.”
“Well, that’s one thing we have in common,” he gave her a small smile.
She extended a hand for a shake. “It was nice meeting you, Dean.”
He took her hand. “You too,” he smiled, corner of his eyes crinkling with goodwill.
Faith held on for a second longer before letting go and passing Sam a casual nod. He nodded back, giving her his sweetest smile. She headed to the door, smiled at Angel, stole a last glance at the boys and left.
Sam’s eyes remained on the closed door. “She’s hot.”
Dean removed his eyes from the door, making a face at Sam before grinning tauntingly. “Way out of your league, dude.”
Sam felt rather than heard the low rumbling of Dean’s chortle and smiled at himself.
///
“So you’re a vampire who’s a CEO of a law firm and lives in a penthouse?” Sam frowned, looking out of the window of Angel’s car.
“Pretty much,” Angel replied softly, his tone low.
Out of nowhere, a question from Spike. “So you’ve never played Mario before?”
Sam shrugged innocently, making him looked no older than seven. Spike slid lower in his seat, moaning under his breath.
Dean whistled softly, fingering the interior of the Solstice. “What I wouldn’t give to drive this kind of wheels.”
“Maybe I’ll let you drive it some other time,” Angel offered wholeheartedly, though he knew very well there is one thing that Dean wouldn’t give for anything in the whole wide world, much less to simply drive a car like this.
“Oh, sure,” Spike retorted from the passenger seat. “Let someone you’ve known for no more than five hours drive any car you have. But when it’s me…”
“He wouldn’t drive into a lamp post to get back at me,” Angel acidly replied.
“Actually,” Dean cut in, “thanks but we won’t be sticking around long.”
“Oh,” Angel raised an eyebrow, attempting to mask the sliver of disappointment in his voice. “Alright, then. Maybe some other time when you drop by. Do you think you’ve found what you want to hunt here in L.A?”
Dean watched as Sam studied the city lights outside the window. “Pretty much.”
///
Angel took his gaze away from the half empty mug on the coffee table when Spike set down one for himself, filled with pig’s blood and settled on the armchair opposite him.
“You don’t need to stick around.”
“Thank you for being so subtle in kicking me out,” Spike grinned boyishly and lifted his mug in a salute.
“You can drive back home. Just take one of my cars,” Angel waved him off, leaning back on his recliner.
“Not until your cleaning crew finish with my apartment,” Spike gulped down the blood.
Angel scowled. “And where might you be sleeping until then?”
Spike’s grin was slow. “Here.”
“Please,” Angel groaned, “tell me you’re kidding.”
“What?” Spike shrugged nonchalantly. “The bed could fit four,” he sipped at the mug again.
“We haven’t been sharing a bed since…”
Glances were exchanged for a while. Then looks of recollection crossed both faces. Both cleared their throats and looked away at the memory.
///
“So why can’t we hang around again?” Sam’s creased forehead was barely visible underneath his overgrown bangs.
Dean seemed to grip the steering wheel tighter. “Because all there seems to be in L.A are vampires. And you know well I don’t do vamps. There’s no use to stay.”
“We did ran into a demon-possessed undead,” Sam replied shrewdly, his lips tilting in a precursor of a taunt. “And a horny one, at that.”
Dean took his eyes off the road for a moment and scowled at his brother. “Sweet. You’re going to use that on me forever, aren’t you?”
“Nah,” Sam grinned. “Only for about a couple of decades, maybe. Until I get a better one.”
“Really mature,” Dean reached out and managed to hit his brother upright on the back of the head. “How’s that one to boot?” he laughed heartily.
Sam decided to let it go. For this once. “When Angel offered to set up a place for us to stay the night, why did you refuse?”
Dean paused. “Are you kidding? I’m used to old, moldy motels. Sleeping in a lush bedroom with perfect floor-installed heaters and king-sized plush beds would disturb my whole bodily system.”
“Even when it has a steam shower stall and a Jacuzzi for two in its bathroom?” Sam lifted an eyebrow.
Dean sighed, leaving the question unanswered. “Vampire with a soul. Don’t you find it weird?”
Sam was silent. When Dean looked over he was shaking his head in a drowsy manner. He couldn’t tell if his brother was falling asleep - he couldn’t even see his eyes underneath all that hair to see if they were open or shut. Dean shook his head, returning his gaze on the road, intend on reaching the motel he checked into a couple of days ago, to catch up on his own beauty sleep. Beside him Sam was quiet, gradually slipping into slumber.
Once in a while Dean took a short glance at his brother, studying him close.
“Dude. You need a haircut.”
*
end.
of evil and mario i of evil and mario ii of evil and mario: epilogue