charloft } { 6. Pride
[Set in swallow_theliesish. (Meaning the general set-up but not actually binding until you guys okay it.) friggen_jerk, imnot_likeyou, stillmade_adeal and whatialways_do are all used with permission and love, while blinding_visage is referenced with less permission, but still lots of general love and cookies.]
“Dean? You have to speak up. I can’t hear you.”
“YOU’RE NOT MY BROTHER!”
There was an audible smack! from somewhere on the other side of the phone, followed by a line of cursing from the person who was closest to the speaker. Bela was sure that from somewhere on the other end she could hear a scolding “Dean!” from someone in the room. It was a voice she didn’t recognize, but she was too busy being amused to really care.
“Say that again? I don’t think I heard you the first time.”
“Screw you, Bela.” There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the phone line. Whatever had happened, Dean seemed to be in over his head, and that was a rarity in and of itself. She was debating whether she should revel in his discomfort or figure out why on Earth he was calling her. Fortunately, he made the decision for her. “I-I need your help.”
She didn’t ask him to repeat it, as much as she may have wanted to. “Be careful, Dean. That sounded like it might have hurt.” She was referring more to his pride than anything else, but she wouldn’t deny the thought that it probably hurt him physically as well.
“Just-shut up and say whether you will or not. And remember that I saved your ass. I can reverse the process.”
“Well. You must really be desperate,” she sighed as she leaned back in her seat. “What seems to be the problem?”
There was a pause. “Sam touched something, and-well, you have to see it to believe it. You anywhere near Baltimore?”
“It’ll take a couple hours, but I can be there,” she sighed, glancing down at her watch. “Do I at least get a hint?”
“Not this time-this one you gotta actually see to believe.”
Well then. This should be good. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Good.” Dean barely let her get an address out of him before he hung up the phone. She wasn’t even sure why he was coming to her for help in the first place, but as he said, maybe she did just have to see to believe. After all, that was the business they worked in.
***
Even with the forewarning of having to see it to believe it, she still wasn’t entirely prepared for what lay in front of her. For one thing, it was odd to see Sam shorter than her, let alone less mature. He couldn’t have been more than five years-old, and he was currently wrapped in a t-shirt that was three sizes too big for him, and curled up on one of the beds next to a blond woman she didn’t recognize. The woman was reading him a story, something simple and juvenile, while another dark haired woman studied her from a distance.
“Huh,” she said, tipping her head to the side. “Forgot you were from this world.”
“Excuse me?” Bela frowned, not quite sure what she was talking about. Dean just shook his head before gesturing for Bela to come closer.
“Bela this is Max. Max, Bela. She’s going to be helping us with the breaking and entering aspect of this job.”
“Already we’re stealing something?” Bela raised an eyebrow. “ I thought we didn’t know what did this?”
“We know it had to have happened in this museum. Which means whatever it was Sam touched had to have been in there. That Bobby dude says that the only way to fix it is to either have Sam touch it again or destroy it, and since we can’t exactly take mini-Sam to an alarmed museum just to have him touch something, we figuring stealing it’s the best way.” Max shifted in her chair and pointing to the blueprint in front of her. “What we need you to figure out, is which thing it was. You know more about this stuff than we do, and Bobby wasn’t good for much more than what we already said.”
“Bobby is plenty good,” Dean interjected, fixing the dark haired woman with a look. “He’s just unavailable right now.”
Max held up her hands in an ‘whatever’ kind of gesture, before looking down at the blueprints again. “Either way. We need you to figure out what he touched, so that I know what to steal. And Sam is less than helpful.”
“I noticed that,” Bela replied, glancing back at the little boy. “I take it his memory went with everything else.”
“Dean gets within two feet of him and Sam beats him with a whiffle bat.” Max smirked. “It’s actually kinda funny.”
“It’s not that funny,” Dean glared back at her. Bela just raised an eyebrow, amused, before looking back at the blond woman on the bed.
“She seems to have a way with him.”
Dean followed her eyes before shaking his head. “Just focus on the artifacts, please?”
Bela watched him carefully for a moment, before nodding. “Alright. Do you have pictures for me to look at, or do you expect me to divine it out of thin air?”
Dean gave her a look, before pushing the museum brochure at her. “Knock yourself out.”
***
Ten hours later, it was the middle of the night and she and Dean were sitting in the Impala outside the museum, watching as Max practically back flipped her way over the security system. Bela had never seen anything like it, and she knew some rather impressive thieves in her time. “That’s a rather resourceful friend you’ve made.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to call her a friend yet,” Dean sighed awkwardly. “We’re still figuring that out.”
“Another stray you’ve collected then?” she said, taking the moment of pause before trying to pry a little more under the lid of secrets Dean Winchester was keeping. “Along with the blond?”
“Do you want to walk back to the motel?” he said with a glare, and she sighed, before shutting up to lean back into the seat of the car again.
“Fair enough.” There was another beat. “Shouldn’t Sam know better than to touch things in a museum?”
“We’re not going to get into Sam’s common sense at the moment,” Dean replied. “As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t had any for a while.”
There was a beat, a moment of consideration before she spoke up again. “Care to elaborate?”
“Can we just shut up and not talk about anything?” He watched her with an even look for a moment, before turning his eyes back to the windshield again. “You are not the person I’m looking to have a heart-to-heart with.”
“Yet you’ll ask me to rob a museum with you.” She sighed. “I suppose I should be grateful that you didn’t decide to use me as the patsy.”
He set his jaw. “I need to make sure this works. Otherwise you absolutely would be.” He managed to tear his eyes away long enough to look at her. “You owe me, remember?”
“So does this make us even?” she raised an eyebrow. “You saved my life, but I helped you save the world at the same time. Get Sam back to normal … ”
“Bela, we are so friggin’ far from even,” he said, giving her a look. “You are gonna be at my beck and call until I run out of shit for you to fix. And maybe some time after that.”
She rolled her eyes at that, before looking out the side window again. “Good to know.” She could catch Dean’s smug look in the reflection, and she sighed, before looking down at the potato chip bag he had shoved between them. “Could you have at least bought better snacks?”
“Could you just shut up?”
A few minutes later, Max reappeared in the back seat, wrapped statue in her gloved hands. “Got it. Let’s blaze.” There was a beat as she placed it on the seat next to her and then reached over the back of the seat to grab the bag of chips. “Nice. Barbecue.”
Dean just smirked as he put the Impala into gear. “See? She likes my snacks.”
“Well, Dean, not everyone can account for taste.”
1369 words
“Dean? You have to speak up. I can’t hear you.”
“YOU’RE NOT MY BROTHER!”
There was an audible smack! from somewhere on the other side of the phone, followed by a line of cursing from the person who was closest to the speaker. Bela was sure that from somewhere on the other end she could hear a scolding “Dean!” from someone in the room. It was a voice she didn’t recognize, but she was too busy being amused to really care.
“Say that again? I don’t think I heard you the first time.”
“Screw you, Bela.” There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the phone line. Whatever had happened, Dean seemed to be in over his head, and that was a rarity in and of itself. She was debating whether she should revel in his discomfort or figure out why on Earth he was calling her. Fortunately, he made the decision for her. “I-I need your help.”
She didn’t ask him to repeat it, as much as she may have wanted to. “Be careful, Dean. That sounded like it might have hurt.” She was referring more to his pride than anything else, but she wouldn’t deny the thought that it probably hurt him physically as well.
“Just-shut up and say whether you will or not. And remember that I saved your ass. I can reverse the process.”
“Well. You must really be desperate,” she sighed as she leaned back in her seat. “What seems to be the problem?”
There was a pause. “Sam touched something, and-well, you have to see it to believe it. You anywhere near Baltimore?”
“It’ll take a couple hours, but I can be there,” she sighed, glancing down at her watch. “Do I at least get a hint?”
“Not this time-this one you gotta actually see to believe.”
Well then. This should be good. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Good.” Dean barely let her get an address out of him before he hung up the phone. She wasn’t even sure why he was coming to her for help in the first place, but as he said, maybe she did just have to see to believe. After all, that was the business they worked in.
***
Even with the forewarning of having to see it to believe it, she still wasn’t entirely prepared for what lay in front of her. For one thing, it was odd to see Sam shorter than her, let alone less mature. He couldn’t have been more than five years-old, and he was currently wrapped in a t-shirt that was three sizes too big for him, and curled up on one of the beds next to a blond woman she didn’t recognize. The woman was reading him a story, something simple and juvenile, while another dark haired woman studied her from a distance.
“Huh,” she said, tipping her head to the side. “Forgot you were from this world.”
“Excuse me?” Bela frowned, not quite sure what she was talking about. Dean just shook his head before gesturing for Bela to come closer.
“Bela this is Max. Max, Bela. She’s going to be helping us with the breaking and entering aspect of this job.”
“Already we’re stealing something?” Bela raised an eyebrow. “ I thought we didn’t know what did this?”
“We know it had to have happened in this museum. Which means whatever it was Sam touched had to have been in there. That Bobby dude says that the only way to fix it is to either have Sam touch it again or destroy it, and since we can’t exactly take mini-Sam to an alarmed museum just to have him touch something, we figuring stealing it’s the best way.” Max shifted in her chair and pointing to the blueprint in front of her. “What we need you to figure out, is which thing it was. You know more about this stuff than we do, and Bobby wasn’t good for much more than what we already said.”
“Bobby is plenty good,” Dean interjected, fixing the dark haired woman with a look. “He’s just unavailable right now.”
Max held up her hands in an ‘whatever’ kind of gesture, before looking down at the blueprints again. “Either way. We need you to figure out what he touched, so that I know what to steal. And Sam is less than helpful.”
“I noticed that,” Bela replied, glancing back at the little boy. “I take it his memory went with everything else.”
“Dean gets within two feet of him and Sam beats him with a whiffle bat.” Max smirked. “It’s actually kinda funny.”
“It’s not that funny,” Dean glared back at her. Bela just raised an eyebrow, amused, before looking back at the blond woman on the bed.
“She seems to have a way with him.”
Dean followed her eyes before shaking his head. “Just focus on the artifacts, please?”
Bela watched him carefully for a moment, before nodding. “Alright. Do you have pictures for me to look at, or do you expect me to divine it out of thin air?”
Dean gave her a look, before pushing the museum brochure at her. “Knock yourself out.”
***
Ten hours later, it was the middle of the night and she and Dean were sitting in the Impala outside the museum, watching as Max practically back flipped her way over the security system. Bela had never seen anything like it, and she knew some rather impressive thieves in her time. “That’s a rather resourceful friend you’ve made.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to call her a friend yet,” Dean sighed awkwardly. “We’re still figuring that out.”
“Another stray you’ve collected then?” she said, taking the moment of pause before trying to pry a little more under the lid of secrets Dean Winchester was keeping. “Along with the blond?”
“Do you want to walk back to the motel?” he said with a glare, and she sighed, before shutting up to lean back into the seat of the car again.
“Fair enough.” There was another beat. “Shouldn’t Sam know better than to touch things in a museum?”
“We’re not going to get into Sam’s common sense at the moment,” Dean replied. “As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t had any for a while.”
There was a beat, a moment of consideration before she spoke up again. “Care to elaborate?”
“Can we just shut up and not talk about anything?” He watched her with an even look for a moment, before turning his eyes back to the windshield again. “You are not the person I’m looking to have a heart-to-heart with.”
“Yet you’ll ask me to rob a museum with you.” She sighed. “I suppose I should be grateful that you didn’t decide to use me as the patsy.”
He set his jaw. “I need to make sure this works. Otherwise you absolutely would be.” He managed to tear his eyes away long enough to look at her. “You owe me, remember?”
“So does this make us even?” she raised an eyebrow. “You saved my life, but I helped you save the world at the same time. Get Sam back to normal … ”
“Bela, we are so friggin’ far from even,” he said, giving her a look. “You are gonna be at my beck and call until I run out of shit for you to fix. And maybe some time after that.”
She rolled her eyes at that, before looking out the side window again. “Good to know.” She could catch Dean’s smug look in the reflection, and she sighed, before looking down at the potato chip bag he had shoved between them. “Could you have at least bought better snacks?”
“Could you just shut up?”
A few minutes later, Max reappeared in the back seat, wrapped statue in her gloved hands. “Got it. Let’s blaze.” There was a beat as she placed it on the seat next to her and then reached over the back of the seat to grab the bag of chips. “Nice. Barbecue.”
Dean just smirked as he put the Impala into gear. “See? She likes my snacks.”
“Well, Dean, not everyone can account for taste.”
1369 words