Dean/Lois - Such an Almighty Sound
Fandom: Supernatural/Smallville
Title: Such an Almighty Sound
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Dean Winchester/Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Sam Winchester
xoverland Challenge: Big Bang
kissbingo Prompt: Location: Hospital
Content Warning: AU, crack, canon abuse … probably crimes against Smallville canon, but … yeah, I can’t even comment on that-but I’m not bashing, I swear.
Summary: The last time Lois Lane saw Dean Winchester, the General was running him off with a shotgun, and Sam was sitting on the trunk of the Impala laughing.
Author’s Note: Written for smokeandsong for xoverexchange. I … am so sorry. I feel I need to apologize for this because yeah, this is a lot cracky. This goes AU from the beginning of Season 4, but the details are all laid out in the fic so … yeah. I hope you like it? Also, I’m only technically in the beginning of Season 5, so I’m sorry if my Lois voice is a little … young. A thanks to lollobrigida for helping me tighten the nuts and bolts.
Disclaimer: I don’t own. They belong to the CW. I’m just borrowing and will put everything back where I found it.
The last time Lois Lane saw Dean Winchester, the General was running him off with a shotgun, and Sam was sitting on the trunk of the Impala laughing.
Sam was much shorter then.
They had been sixteen at the time. Lois had been all over the world at that point, and with that kind of knowledge came a more than intimate awareness of what exactly was out there. They weren’t hunters, not the way John and his boys were, but they knew enough for a salt-n-burn here and there as they got sent from posting to posting. When she actually met John Winchester, however, they were back in the states, and John’s oldest son was looking like the nearest check point on Lois’s road to rebellion. A nice, tall, well-muscled check point on that road, but a check point nonetheless.
Yes, she used him. But he was sixteen, and considering that most sixteen year-old boys are happy to just get their hand up a girl’s shirt, she can’t say that he was complaining.
It didn’t get past her that Dean handled her with the skill of a guy who had had his hand up more than a few girl’s shirts, and probably had hit a couple home runs prior to meeting Lois, but this wasn’t her first time around the block either. She was just looking for fun and a way to get the General’s attention, and Dean provided that, and looked good in a leather jacket all at the same time. As far as she was concerned, it was a win-win. And fortunately for Dean, he ran fast enough to not worry about picking buckshots out of his ass later.
She hadn’t thought of Dean and Sam Winchester in years, and she certainly didn’t expect Smallville of all places to dredge up those old, slightly embarrassing memories, but it did. It wasn’t even Smallville itself, but the fact that as she happened to be walking out of the Talon, and there she was. She was parked two cars down from Lois’s sedan, sitting there like the day she had driven away from the Lane residence. She didn’t think it was anywhere near possible-it had to be someone else’s car. The Winchesters were off the map, and as far as anyone legal was concerned, most likely dead. But, God, if she wasn’t the prettiest piece of machinery that Lois had ever seen.
She made her way over to where the Impala was parked, letting one hand run over the hood for a moment as she sipped her coffee. She wasn’t really a girl to look backwards, but there was something about that week that the Winchesters spent with the Lanes that was … different. Maybe because neither of them needed to keep their secrets, and for once they could just be themselves. She was standing at the front of the car, lost in her own thoughts for a moment, before a deep voice came from over her shoulder.
“Can I help you?”
She turned, then had to look up at the guy who was currently towering over her. He’s another one that might have been used in Operation: Piss off the General. “No. Sorry, I was just admiring your car. You don’t see ’67s around all that often anymore. I haven’t seen one since I was a teenager.”
“Yeah, she’s a great car.” He was looking at her intensely, like he was trying to place her somewhere, and she took a step back. As she did, he blinked and shook his head. “Sorry. Just feel like I’ve met you before.”
“Hate to break it to you, big guy, but I think I would remember meeting you. You seem like you’d be pretty hard to forget.” She paused for a minute, before extending a hand to him. “I’m Lois.”
“ … Lois Lane?”
“Okay, now you’re being scary,” Lois took another step back before he could shake his hand. The guy’s eyes went wide, and he held up his hands as he tried to calm her down.
“No, it’s me, Sam,” he said quickly. “Sam Winchester.”
That name made her freeze, and she turned back to look at him, trying to look closer to see if there was anything that she recognized. “No. Sam? Really?”
He laughed. “I know, I grew a little since I was twelve.”
“A little?” Lois still was giving him a speculative look. “What was Dean doing, putting steroids in your Lucky Charms?”
He shrugged. “I just like to think I have good genes.” He then smiled a bit as he looked her over. Not appraisingly, just looking. “You look really good, Lo.”
“So do you,” she said with a nod. “What brings you to Smallville?”
He hesitated for a moment. “I’m looking for Dean, actually.”
“You’re looking for him?” Lois frowned. “If I know Dean, he wouldn’t have let you go twenty feet from him, so what’s with the scavenger hunt?”
“You know, I’m not a twelve year-old anymore-”
“Sam. Out with it.”
He paused, one hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. “It’s a long story.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I happen to have a free afternoon.” She reached forward to take his hand, before starting to pull him back into the Talon. “C’mon, Gigantor, I’ll buy you a danish.”
***
“So, let me get this straight.” Lois straightened in her chair a bit as she ripped off another bit of her cookie and crossed her legs in front of her. “You got abducted and sent to Psychic Kid Sleepaway Camp by a demon, where you were killed, and Dean sold his soul to bring you back. He only got a year, and about six months back, he became hellhound chow, and went to Hell. Am I up to date so far?” She was trying not to seem too floored by the fact that Dean was dead. It wasn’t the meat of the story, and it was the way people tended to go in that business. Lois had only known him from one summer when she was sixteen. There shouldn’t be a lead weight sitting in the pit of her stomach after hearing the news, but there was.
“Yeah. I’ve been looking for a way to try and bring him back for months and came up empty. So I just kept hunting. I figured that somewhere along the way, something would come up and I would have another direction to move in, but there just wasn’t anything. And then I saw this.”
He pulled a stack of papers out of his pocket, and pushed the printouts towards her. Lois unfolded them slowly, and her face fell a bit. She was staring down at Jason and Lana’s wedding announcement. She glanced up at Sam, and the look on his face was so eager and hopeful that she couldn’t bring herself to crush it, but she knew that she had to. “Sam. This is Jason Teague.”
“Yeah, but this-” He paused for a minute and placed a faded picture next to the picture of Jason and Lana. “-is Dean, at my high school graduation.”
Lois took the two pictures in her hand, and she had to say-it was a hell of a resemblance. But Lois knew that it wasn’t what Sam was looking for, she sighed heavily. “It’s close, I know. But-this is Jason Teague. I know him, Sam, I know his fiancé. We’ve been friends for about five years now.”
Sam’s face fell a bit at that. She knew that it wasn’t the news he wanted to hear, but she couldn’t not tell him the truth, especially where his brother was concerned. He took back the stack of papers from her, and took a deep breath as he flipped through them. “If that’s Jason Teague, how do you explain this?”
He handed the stack back to her, and right on the top was another picture of Jason and his mother, with a headline that read: Socialite and son killed. She frowned, her eyes scanning up to check the name of the paper to make sure it was reputable, before reading the rest of the article. “This … this happened during the meteor shower. I was in Smallville when this happened.” She paused for a moment, before looking up at him again. “Sam, how long ago did Dean die?
“About six months ago.” The hopeful look was back on Sam’s face again. “This wasn’t the only article, either. Bobby Singer and I did some research, and we think that Jason and Dean might be doppelgangers. They say that everyone in the world has a visual double, so maybe that’s really Dean, and something’s-mindwhammying him into believing he’s Jason.”
“And mindwhammying the whole town along with him?” She held up a hand before he could cut her off. “Look, I’m not saying that the whole thing doesn’t have my Spidey-sense tingling, but we can’t just go at Jason Teague without having proof that he really isn’t who he says he is. He’s connected to some really powerful people.” She reached over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Let me look into it. My cousin’s got some connections, and maybe she’ll be able to turn up something on the mysterious and spooky side.”
Sam swallowed and glanced away, and she sighed, before reaching forward and taking his hand. She knew he wasn’t going to like it, but if Sam made a run at Jason on his own and Jason wasn’t Dean? He could land himself in some pretty serious trouble of the legal persuasion, and that wasn’t what he needed right now. She was just trying to keep him safe.
“I know that’s not what you want to here. But trust me on this, alright?”
“Yeah,” Sam nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“Okay. Good.” She flashed him a smile, before pushing up to her feet. “And until then, you can stay with me upstairs.”
“What? No, Lois, I don’t want to-”
“You are not putting me out. Honestly. I don’t know where you’re gonna sleep, because I doubt you’ll fit on my couch, but we’ll figure something out.”
“You really don’t take no for an answer, do you?”
“I don’t even know the meaning of the word.”
***
When this was over, she was going to murder Sam Winchester.
Sam, apparently, didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘wait.’ Sam’s inability to wait was what landed Lois in the basement of the hospital while a fundraiser was going on above them, and Sam was holding a very confused soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Teague at gun point. Jason was looking very, very freaked out, and he probably had every right to be, but Lois also knew that this definitely wasn’t Jason. She didn’t know how, and she didn’t know why, but a quick trip to the coroner’s office had proved that much. Now she had to prove it to him.
This wasn’t going to be easy.
She glanced uneasily between Sam and Not Jason, before placing a hand over Sam’s gun and starting to push it down. “Sam. This isn’t the way to do this.”
“Lois, I’m done being yanked around by these things.”
“Sam.” She turned on him with a glare, pushing down on his hand until he relented and lowered the gun. “Let me handle this.”
“Lois.” She turned to face Jason at the sound of her name, and he did not look happy. “What the hell is going on?”
“Look, I know this is going to be a lot to handle, but I need you to hear me out, okay? Can you trust me that much?” Jason watched her for a minute, then nodded. “You know that theory, that everyone has a double?”
“Yeah, but that’s just a theory. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“It does when it’s paired with this.” She moved between him and Sam, handing him the obituaries from the other newspapers outside of Smallville and Metropolis. Jason looked them over for a moment, and he started to say something, and she pulled out the file she had grabbed from the coroner’s office-the hard copy, not the electronic one. “And this.”
He took the second one with an eye roll, but as he started to read, his face paled. Lana’s eyes went wide, and she moved closer to Jason, placing a hand on his arm. “Jason, what is it?”
“It’s an autopsy,” he said softly. “My autopsy.” He paused as he looked up at Lois. “Where did you get this?”
“The Smallville coroner’s office. All electronic records of it ever happening were gone, but the paperwork was shoved in the back of a file cabinet in his office.” Lois shifted, shoving her hands in her pockets as she looked up at him again. “I don’t think you’re Jason Teague.”
Jason looks up at her, eyes full of confusion, but Lana spoke up before he could. “Don’t be ridiculous, Lois. Of course this is Jason.”
Lois ignored her, focusing on the man in front of her. “I know it’s hard to believe. And I know it’s not a lot to go on. But your name isn’t Jason Teague. It’s Dean Winchester. And I don’t know how-but we’re gonna figure out. The big idiot behind me is your brother and he loves you enough to hold you at gunpoint even when you believe that you’re someone else, so just … take a breath and trust me, okay?”
Jason’s eyes wandered over her shoulder to where Sam was standing, watching him for a moment, and there was something in his eyes. She wasn’t sure if it was recognition or just instinct, but when he turned back to Lois and started to nod, she knew that it was a step in the right direction.
“Well, aren’t you … industrious, Miss Lane.”
Lois’s eyes turned on Lana in confusion, because that definitely wasn’t a Lana tone. In fact, that was pretty much the exact opposite of the reaction she was expecting from Lana, and she reached for Jason-Dean and took a few steps back from her. “Not Lana, huh? Should have seen that one coming.”
“Probably,” Lana replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest as the wind started to pick up in the room. “But you should learn not to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.” Lois and the boys stared dumbfounded as a pair of large black wings were shadowed against the back of the wall.
“What the hell-?” Lois began. “Who the hell are you?”
“Sorry. Wrong side.” Lana smirked. “My name is Zachariah. I am an angel of the Lord, and I am here to make sure that Dean Winchester does as he’s needed.”
“By making him believe that he’s someone else? Excuse me for saying, but that doesn’t sound copacetic to me, and I’ve heard a lot of screwed up shit in my time.”
“The delicate situations that are already in play are so far beyond the understanding of your … limited human mind.” ‘Zachariah’ fixed her with a sneer that didn’t belong on Lana’s face, and Lois set her jaw to stare her down. “Dean needs to do as he’s told when the time comes, and as it happens, he’s more … pliable this way.” Her eyes turned from Lois to Sam, who was still standing behind her. “Away from his brother’s … corruptive influence.”
“Turn him back,” Sam replied starting to charge forward and only stopped when Lois put her arm out in front of him. “Turn him back, or I swear I’ll find a way to kill you.”
“Really, Sam-I’d like to see you try.”
“You think you can just change him so that he’ll make the choices you want? That doesn’t mean you win anything,” Sam growled, and at that Zachariah raised an eyebrow, looking over Sam carefully.
“You really think that him being with you was so much better for him?” she asked, starting to circle Sam carefully. “He went to Hell for you, Sam. He was tortured for months, which, as it turns out, down there? Each month is ten years, and it was all for you. So tell me, demon boy-do you really think that his being with you is in his best interests?”
Lois got the feeling that Zachariah wasn’t telling the whole story, but she didn’t want to push it. They just needed to get out of here, with Dean, and figure out the rest later. Sam, on the other hand, just set his jaw and looked away, acknowledging-something-but she wasn’t sure what it was. She just kept herself in front of Dean-Jason and met Zachariah’s eyes again. “Doesn’t matter. You’re not leaving with him.”
“And you really think you have the power to stop me, little girl?” She laughed, and it wasn’t the usual friendly, melodic sound that normally came with Lana’s laugh-it was harsh and cold, and she really wanted to take whatever it was inside her and shake it out. Hard. “You think that Dean would be so much better off as he was? The past two months, I think he’s been happier than he’s ever been. Do you really want to see what he would be like instead?”
“It’s better than happy-go-lucky Robo-Boy you’ve got here. I can handle Dean and whatever baggage that goes with it, and so can Sam.”
“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?”
Suddenly Lana was right in front of her, and reaching out her two hands to press fingers to Dean and Lois’s foreheads. There was a startled yelp on her part, and then all of the sudden, everything went black.
***
“Lo? Lois!”
“C’mon Lane, up and at ‘em.”
Lois groaned as she started to come to, rubbing her forehead as she looked up to see the two Winchester brothers leaning over her. Her eyes went to Sam first, letting out a small sigh of relief, and then to Dean, who she knew was different, just in the way he was looking at her. There was something darker in those eyes, and there was a brief moment when she thought they pushed whatever it was too far, but then he smiled, and she managed to push it back for the moment.
“There she is. Those were some balls, sweetheart, standin’ up to an angel like that.”
“That jackass was serious?” she said with a groan as she pushed herself into a sitting position, then extended her hands to the two of them to help her up. “I feel like she hit me with a truck.”
“Tell me about it,” Dean sighed. “I feel like I just spent two months underwater.” He paused for a minute, before looking over at her. “What do you remember, though?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, before sighing. “Jason Teague’s body getting pulled out of the Kent house. The fact that he really did die four years ago, and before he died he went seriously psycho.” She paused with a sigh before running a hand through her hair. “I’m not sure if they’re angels, but they’re packing some serious mojo if they can screw with people’s memories like that.”
“Yeah, well, hopefully they’re gone for right now,” Sam said with a small smile. “We can get back to the way things were.”
Lois watched as Dean’s eyes wandered over to his brother, and it took him a second to nod in agreement. “Yeah. Definitely.”
“Great,” Lois nodded. “I’m glad you guys can have your Wally and Beaver moment, but can we get out of here, please?”
“Please, God,” Dean agreed, taking her elbow to walk her out the door as the other moved to loosen his bowtie. “I feel like I’m suffocating in this thing.”
***
A few days later, Sam was packing the car while Dean was saying goodbye to Lois in front of the Talon. She almost didn’t want to see him go. There was something about what the so-called angel had said before he disappeared in her friend’s body that was still getting under her skin, but they said they’d keep an eye out for her, and Lois hoped that Lana wouldn’t go the way of most of the possessions she saw-they tended to wind up chalk full of holes and more issues than National Geographic, but now wasn’t the time for that. Now was the time to say goodbye.
“Hey. At least my dad isn’t running you off with a shotgun again.”
Dean groaned at that, pinching his eyes closed. “Don’t remind me. I was looking over my shoulder for weeks.” She grinned at him, and he gave her a slow smile, before taking another step forward. “You’re not gonna get all chick flick on me, are ya, Lane?”
She smirked as she reached forward to play with the edges of Dean’s leather jacket. “Don’t worry, Winchester-we’ll always have Smallville.” He laughed, and she grinned, before pulling him in closer and brushing a soft kiss to his lips. “Don’t be a stranger, alright?” she said slowly, before glancing around Dean to Sam. “That goes for you too, Gigantor.”
Sam gave her a half-salute from where he was standing next to the car, and Dean just looked back at her, before leaning forward and pulling her into a hug. She slid her arms around his shoulders for a moment, and kept him close before he pulled back, brushing a kiss to her cheek.
“Thanks, Lo.”
“Anytime, Dean.”
Title: Such an Almighty Sound
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Dean Winchester/Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Sam Winchester
xoverland Challenge: Big Bang
kissbingo Prompt: Location: Hospital
Content Warning: AU, crack, canon abuse … probably crimes against Smallville canon, but … yeah, I can’t even comment on that-but I’m not bashing, I swear.
Summary: The last time Lois Lane saw Dean Winchester, the General was running him off with a shotgun, and Sam was sitting on the trunk of the Impala laughing.
Author’s Note: Written for smokeandsong for xoverexchange. I … am so sorry. I feel I need to apologize for this because yeah, this is a lot cracky. This goes AU from the beginning of Season 4, but the details are all laid out in the fic so … yeah. I hope you like it? Also, I’m only technically in the beginning of Season 5, so I’m sorry if my Lois voice is a little … young. A thanks to lollobrigida for helping me tighten the nuts and bolts.
Disclaimer: I don’t own. They belong to the CW. I’m just borrowing and will put everything back where I found it.
The last time Lois Lane saw Dean Winchester, the General was running him off with a shotgun, and Sam was sitting on the trunk of the Impala laughing.
Sam was much shorter then.
They had been sixteen at the time. Lois had been all over the world at that point, and with that kind of knowledge came a more than intimate awareness of what exactly was out there. They weren’t hunters, not the way John and his boys were, but they knew enough for a salt-n-burn here and there as they got sent from posting to posting. When she actually met John Winchester, however, they were back in the states, and John’s oldest son was looking like the nearest check point on Lois’s road to rebellion. A nice, tall, well-muscled check point on that road, but a check point nonetheless.
Yes, she used him. But he was sixteen, and considering that most sixteen year-old boys are happy to just get their hand up a girl’s shirt, she can’t say that he was complaining.
It didn’t get past her that Dean handled her with the skill of a guy who had had his hand up more than a few girl’s shirts, and probably had hit a couple home runs prior to meeting Lois, but this wasn’t her first time around the block either. She was just looking for fun and a way to get the General’s attention, and Dean provided that, and looked good in a leather jacket all at the same time. As far as she was concerned, it was a win-win. And fortunately for Dean, he ran fast enough to not worry about picking buckshots out of his ass later.
She hadn’t thought of Dean and Sam Winchester in years, and she certainly didn’t expect Smallville of all places to dredge up those old, slightly embarrassing memories, but it did. It wasn’t even Smallville itself, but the fact that as she happened to be walking out of the Talon, and there she was. She was parked two cars down from Lois’s sedan, sitting there like the day she had driven away from the Lane residence. She didn’t think it was anywhere near possible-it had to be someone else’s car. The Winchesters were off the map, and as far as anyone legal was concerned, most likely dead. But, God, if she wasn’t the prettiest piece of machinery that Lois had ever seen.
She made her way over to where the Impala was parked, letting one hand run over the hood for a moment as she sipped her coffee. She wasn’t really a girl to look backwards, but there was something about that week that the Winchesters spent with the Lanes that was … different. Maybe because neither of them needed to keep their secrets, and for once they could just be themselves. She was standing at the front of the car, lost in her own thoughts for a moment, before a deep voice came from over her shoulder.
“Can I help you?”
She turned, then had to look up at the guy who was currently towering over her. He’s another one that might have been used in Operation: Piss off the General. “No. Sorry, I was just admiring your car. You don’t see ’67s around all that often anymore. I haven’t seen one since I was a teenager.”
“Yeah, she’s a great car.” He was looking at her intensely, like he was trying to place her somewhere, and she took a step back. As she did, he blinked and shook his head. “Sorry. Just feel like I’ve met you before.”
“Hate to break it to you, big guy, but I think I would remember meeting you. You seem like you’d be pretty hard to forget.” She paused for a minute, before extending a hand to him. “I’m Lois.”
“ … Lois Lane?”
“Okay, now you’re being scary,” Lois took another step back before he could shake his hand. The guy’s eyes went wide, and he held up his hands as he tried to calm her down.
“No, it’s me, Sam,” he said quickly. “Sam Winchester.”
That name made her freeze, and she turned back to look at him, trying to look closer to see if there was anything that she recognized. “No. Sam? Really?”
He laughed. “I know, I grew a little since I was twelve.”
“A little?” Lois still was giving him a speculative look. “What was Dean doing, putting steroids in your Lucky Charms?”
He shrugged. “I just like to think I have good genes.” He then smiled a bit as he looked her over. Not appraisingly, just looking. “You look really good, Lo.”
“So do you,” she said with a nod. “What brings you to Smallville?”
He hesitated for a moment. “I’m looking for Dean, actually.”
“You’re looking for him?” Lois frowned. “If I know Dean, he wouldn’t have let you go twenty feet from him, so what’s with the scavenger hunt?”
“You know, I’m not a twelve year-old anymore-”
“Sam. Out with it.”
He paused, one hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. “It’s a long story.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I happen to have a free afternoon.” She reached forward to take his hand, before starting to pull him back into the Talon. “C’mon, Gigantor, I’ll buy you a danish.”
***
“So, let me get this straight.” Lois straightened in her chair a bit as she ripped off another bit of her cookie and crossed her legs in front of her. “You got abducted and sent to Psychic Kid Sleepaway Camp by a demon, where you were killed, and Dean sold his soul to bring you back. He only got a year, and about six months back, he became hellhound chow, and went to Hell. Am I up to date so far?” She was trying not to seem too floored by the fact that Dean was dead. It wasn’t the meat of the story, and it was the way people tended to go in that business. Lois had only known him from one summer when she was sixteen. There shouldn’t be a lead weight sitting in the pit of her stomach after hearing the news, but there was.
“Yeah. I’ve been looking for a way to try and bring him back for months and came up empty. So I just kept hunting. I figured that somewhere along the way, something would come up and I would have another direction to move in, but there just wasn’t anything. And then I saw this.”
He pulled a stack of papers out of his pocket, and pushed the printouts towards her. Lois unfolded them slowly, and her face fell a bit. She was staring down at Jason and Lana’s wedding announcement. She glanced up at Sam, and the look on his face was so eager and hopeful that she couldn’t bring herself to crush it, but she knew that she had to. “Sam. This is Jason Teague.”
“Yeah, but this-” He paused for a minute and placed a faded picture next to the picture of Jason and Lana. “-is Dean, at my high school graduation.”
Lois took the two pictures in her hand, and she had to say-it was a hell of a resemblance. But Lois knew that it wasn’t what Sam was looking for, she sighed heavily. “It’s close, I know. But-this is Jason Teague. I know him, Sam, I know his fiancé. We’ve been friends for about five years now.”
Sam’s face fell a bit at that. She knew that it wasn’t the news he wanted to hear, but she couldn’t not tell him the truth, especially where his brother was concerned. He took back the stack of papers from her, and took a deep breath as he flipped through them. “If that’s Jason Teague, how do you explain this?”
He handed the stack back to her, and right on the top was another picture of Jason and his mother, with a headline that read: Socialite and son killed. She frowned, her eyes scanning up to check the name of the paper to make sure it was reputable, before reading the rest of the article. “This … this happened during the meteor shower. I was in Smallville when this happened.” She paused for a moment, before looking up at him again. “Sam, how long ago did Dean die?
“About six months ago.” The hopeful look was back on Sam’s face again. “This wasn’t the only article, either. Bobby Singer and I did some research, and we think that Jason and Dean might be doppelgangers. They say that everyone in the world has a visual double, so maybe that’s really Dean, and something’s-mindwhammying him into believing he’s Jason.”
“And mindwhammying the whole town along with him?” She held up a hand before he could cut her off. “Look, I’m not saying that the whole thing doesn’t have my Spidey-sense tingling, but we can’t just go at Jason Teague without having proof that he really isn’t who he says he is. He’s connected to some really powerful people.” She reached over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Let me look into it. My cousin’s got some connections, and maybe she’ll be able to turn up something on the mysterious and spooky side.”
Sam swallowed and glanced away, and she sighed, before reaching forward and taking his hand. She knew he wasn’t going to like it, but if Sam made a run at Jason on his own and Jason wasn’t Dean? He could land himself in some pretty serious trouble of the legal persuasion, and that wasn’t what he needed right now. She was just trying to keep him safe.
“I know that’s not what you want to here. But trust me on this, alright?”
“Yeah,” Sam nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“Okay. Good.” She flashed him a smile, before pushing up to her feet. “And until then, you can stay with me upstairs.”
“What? No, Lois, I don’t want to-”
“You are not putting me out. Honestly. I don’t know where you’re gonna sleep, because I doubt you’ll fit on my couch, but we’ll figure something out.”
“You really don’t take no for an answer, do you?”
“I don’t even know the meaning of the word.”
***
When this was over, she was going to murder Sam Winchester.
Sam, apparently, didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘wait.’ Sam’s inability to wait was what landed Lois in the basement of the hospital while a fundraiser was going on above them, and Sam was holding a very confused soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Teague at gun point. Jason was looking very, very freaked out, and he probably had every right to be, but Lois also knew that this definitely wasn’t Jason. She didn’t know how, and she didn’t know why, but a quick trip to the coroner’s office had proved that much. Now she had to prove it to him.
This wasn’t going to be easy.
She glanced uneasily between Sam and Not Jason, before placing a hand over Sam’s gun and starting to push it down. “Sam. This isn’t the way to do this.”
“Lois, I’m done being yanked around by these things.”
“Sam.” She turned on him with a glare, pushing down on his hand until he relented and lowered the gun. “Let me handle this.”
“Lois.” She turned to face Jason at the sound of her name, and he did not look happy. “What the hell is going on?”
“Look, I know this is going to be a lot to handle, but I need you to hear me out, okay? Can you trust me that much?” Jason watched her for a minute, then nodded. “You know that theory, that everyone has a double?”
“Yeah, but that’s just a theory. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“It does when it’s paired with this.” She moved between him and Sam, handing him the obituaries from the other newspapers outside of Smallville and Metropolis. Jason looked them over for a moment, and he started to say something, and she pulled out the file she had grabbed from the coroner’s office-the hard copy, not the electronic one. “And this.”
He took the second one with an eye roll, but as he started to read, his face paled. Lana’s eyes went wide, and she moved closer to Jason, placing a hand on his arm. “Jason, what is it?”
“It’s an autopsy,” he said softly. “My autopsy.” He paused as he looked up at Lois. “Where did you get this?”
“The Smallville coroner’s office. All electronic records of it ever happening were gone, but the paperwork was shoved in the back of a file cabinet in his office.” Lois shifted, shoving her hands in her pockets as she looked up at him again. “I don’t think you’re Jason Teague.”
Jason looks up at her, eyes full of confusion, but Lana spoke up before he could. “Don’t be ridiculous, Lois. Of course this is Jason.”
Lois ignored her, focusing on the man in front of her. “I know it’s hard to believe. And I know it’s not a lot to go on. But your name isn’t Jason Teague. It’s Dean Winchester. And I don’t know how-but we’re gonna figure out. The big idiot behind me is your brother and he loves you enough to hold you at gunpoint even when you believe that you’re someone else, so just … take a breath and trust me, okay?”
Jason’s eyes wandered over her shoulder to where Sam was standing, watching him for a moment, and there was something in his eyes. She wasn’t sure if it was recognition or just instinct, but when he turned back to Lois and started to nod, she knew that it was a step in the right direction.
“Well, aren’t you … industrious, Miss Lane.”
Lois’s eyes turned on Lana in confusion, because that definitely wasn’t a Lana tone. In fact, that was pretty much the exact opposite of the reaction she was expecting from Lana, and she reached for Jason-Dean and took a few steps back from her. “Not Lana, huh? Should have seen that one coming.”
“Probably,” Lana replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest as the wind started to pick up in the room. “But you should learn not to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.” Lois and the boys stared dumbfounded as a pair of large black wings were shadowed against the back of the wall.
“What the hell-?” Lois began. “Who the hell are you?”
“Sorry. Wrong side.” Lana smirked. “My name is Zachariah. I am an angel of the Lord, and I am here to make sure that Dean Winchester does as he’s needed.”
“By making him believe that he’s someone else? Excuse me for saying, but that doesn’t sound copacetic to me, and I’ve heard a lot of screwed up shit in my time.”
“The delicate situations that are already in play are so far beyond the understanding of your … limited human mind.” ‘Zachariah’ fixed her with a sneer that didn’t belong on Lana’s face, and Lois set her jaw to stare her down. “Dean needs to do as he’s told when the time comes, and as it happens, he’s more … pliable this way.” Her eyes turned from Lois to Sam, who was still standing behind her. “Away from his brother’s … corruptive influence.”
“Turn him back,” Sam replied starting to charge forward and only stopped when Lois put her arm out in front of him. “Turn him back, or I swear I’ll find a way to kill you.”
“Really, Sam-I’d like to see you try.”
“You think you can just change him so that he’ll make the choices you want? That doesn’t mean you win anything,” Sam growled, and at that Zachariah raised an eyebrow, looking over Sam carefully.
“You really think that him being with you was so much better for him?” she asked, starting to circle Sam carefully. “He went to Hell for you, Sam. He was tortured for months, which, as it turns out, down there? Each month is ten years, and it was all for you. So tell me, demon boy-do you really think that his being with you is in his best interests?”
Lois got the feeling that Zachariah wasn’t telling the whole story, but she didn’t want to push it. They just needed to get out of here, with Dean, and figure out the rest later. Sam, on the other hand, just set his jaw and looked away, acknowledging-something-but she wasn’t sure what it was. She just kept herself in front of Dean-Jason and met Zachariah’s eyes again. “Doesn’t matter. You’re not leaving with him.”
“And you really think you have the power to stop me, little girl?” She laughed, and it wasn’t the usual friendly, melodic sound that normally came with Lana’s laugh-it was harsh and cold, and she really wanted to take whatever it was inside her and shake it out. Hard. “You think that Dean would be so much better off as he was? The past two months, I think he’s been happier than he’s ever been. Do you really want to see what he would be like instead?”
“It’s better than happy-go-lucky Robo-Boy you’ve got here. I can handle Dean and whatever baggage that goes with it, and so can Sam.”
“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?”
Suddenly Lana was right in front of her, and reaching out her two hands to press fingers to Dean and Lois’s foreheads. There was a startled yelp on her part, and then all of the sudden, everything went black.
***
“Lo? Lois!”
“C’mon Lane, up and at ‘em.”
Lois groaned as she started to come to, rubbing her forehead as she looked up to see the two Winchester brothers leaning over her. Her eyes went to Sam first, letting out a small sigh of relief, and then to Dean, who she knew was different, just in the way he was looking at her. There was something darker in those eyes, and there was a brief moment when she thought they pushed whatever it was too far, but then he smiled, and she managed to push it back for the moment.
“There she is. Those were some balls, sweetheart, standin’ up to an angel like that.”
“That jackass was serious?” she said with a groan as she pushed herself into a sitting position, then extended her hands to the two of them to help her up. “I feel like she hit me with a truck.”
“Tell me about it,” Dean sighed. “I feel like I just spent two months underwater.” He paused for a minute, before looking over at her. “What do you remember, though?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, before sighing. “Jason Teague’s body getting pulled out of the Kent house. The fact that he really did die four years ago, and before he died he went seriously psycho.” She paused with a sigh before running a hand through her hair. “I’m not sure if they’re angels, but they’re packing some serious mojo if they can screw with people’s memories like that.”
“Yeah, well, hopefully they’re gone for right now,” Sam said with a small smile. “We can get back to the way things were.”
Lois watched as Dean’s eyes wandered over to his brother, and it took him a second to nod in agreement. “Yeah. Definitely.”
“Great,” Lois nodded. “I’m glad you guys can have your Wally and Beaver moment, but can we get out of here, please?”
“Please, God,” Dean agreed, taking her elbow to walk her out the door as the other moved to loosen his bowtie. “I feel like I’m suffocating in this thing.”
***
A few days later, Sam was packing the car while Dean was saying goodbye to Lois in front of the Talon. She almost didn’t want to see him go. There was something about what the so-called angel had said before he disappeared in her friend’s body that was still getting under her skin, but they said they’d keep an eye out for her, and Lois hoped that Lana wouldn’t go the way of most of the possessions she saw-they tended to wind up chalk full of holes and more issues than National Geographic, but now wasn’t the time for that. Now was the time to say goodbye.
“Hey. At least my dad isn’t running you off with a shotgun again.”
Dean groaned at that, pinching his eyes closed. “Don’t remind me. I was looking over my shoulder for weeks.” She grinned at him, and he gave her a slow smile, before taking another step forward. “You’re not gonna get all chick flick on me, are ya, Lane?”
She smirked as she reached forward to play with the edges of Dean’s leather jacket. “Don’t worry, Winchester-we’ll always have Smallville.” He laughed, and she grinned, before pulling him in closer and brushing a soft kiss to his lips. “Don’t be a stranger, alright?” she said slowly, before glancing around Dean to Sam. “That goes for you too, Gigantor.”
Sam gave her a half-salute from where he was standing next to the car, and Dean just looked back at her, before leaning forward and pulling her into a hug. She slid her arms around his shoulders for a moment, and kept him close before he pulled back, brushing a kiss to her cheek.
“Thanks, Lo.”
“Anytime, Dean.”