Fic: Burden of Sacrifice, part 5 - SPN/AtS
Title: Burden of Sacrifice, part 5
Rating: PG
Pairing: none
Spoilers: through Crossroad Blues
Disclaimer: The last time I checked, my name wasn't Kripke. Therefore, I own none of this, more's the pity.
Warnings: none
Author's Notes: For the sake of this fic, I'm assuming that either Lindsey somehow survived 'Not Fade Away' or he got tossed into the Supernatural universe by the Powers after he died.
Summary: Sam and Dean ask for help in getting their father out of hell from Lindsey McDonald
Previous Parts: part one, part two, part three, part four
Four hours later Dean and Sam were still pouring over the books Lindsey had left them, both of them taking notes and occasionally asking the other for their opinion on ritual ingredients or protection symbols. They both looked up when Lindsey ambled back out of the bedroom, obviously still tired but in much better condition than he'd been in when he left.
"So, boys, what do you have so far?"
Sam started putting the books in some kind of order that only he understood as Lindsey got himself a cup of coffee and dropped into a nearby chair. "We know that we need to go in physically to retrieve Dad's soul, and that one of us will have to act as a temporary vessel until we're out of the hell dimension. There was something about needing an anchor, but neither of us was quite sure just how that worked."
"You boys don't need to worry about the anchor. That's where I come in."
Sam blinked a bit at that, but shrugged and continued with his listing. "We know that we'll need some sort of protective symbols to keep us safe while we're there, but I was never able to figure out the best configuration."
Dean interrupted then, glancing over at Lindsey. "We were kinda hoping that you might know what to do about that part, too."
Lindsey just nodded, lips curling up in a small smile. "I might have some ideas about that, yeah. You run into any problems?"
"Yeah, there is one tiny little problem." Dean leaned forward, bracing his hands on the table. "Once we get Dad's soul out of hell, where's it gonna go? We found some options, but neither of us is absolutely sure that any of them'll work."
Lindsey smiled. "Now see, that's the sort of forward thinking that most people in your position don't bother to do. They just figure they'll go in, grab the soul and come back and everything'll be just great. That's where they make their mistakes. It's nice to see you two are smarter than that."
That made Dean feel a little better about his and Sam's chances, but still didn't answer his question. "So, what will we do with Dad's soul once we get it back?"
"You found the ritual for bringing a soul back into a new body?" Lindsey was speaking to Sam, but his attention was still focused on Dean. "Under other circumstances I'd say you should go for that one."
Dean raised an eyebrow. "Other circumstances?"
Lindsey nodded. "Yeah. That ritual takes a hell of a lot of energy, and I really don't think you boys could pull it off right now. Maybe in a couple of weeks, but I doubt you want your daddy to wait that long."
Dean was opening his mouth to argue when Sam interrupted, flashing him a stern look that had Dean slumping back in his chair with a frown. "So, if we can't use that ritual, what do you suggest we do use?"
"We improvise."
Dean was getting really tired of the word improvise. No matter how knowledgable Lindsey seemed, how competent Bobby had said that he was, all this talk of improvising with John's soul on the line was not filling him with confidence. "We improvise?"
Lindsey just smiled at him, baring his teeth slightly more than was strictly friendly. "Unless you boys have an Orb of Thesulah tucked somewhere in that car of yours. You don't, do you?"
"We've never even seen one." Sam smiled, obviously trying to lessen the tension a bit. "Magical items like that are a little out of our price range."
"I sort of figured. Which is why we improvise." Lindsey moved over to the bookshelf and pulled down a small, round silver paperweight with runes carved into the wooden base. "You two retrieve your daddy's soul and we'll put it in here temporarily, where he'll be safe until we can work out the best way to make him a new body."
Dean blinked, staring at the paperweight doubtfully. "And that'll work? Dad'll be okay in there?"
Lindsey sighed, dropping the paperweight carefully onto the table where Sam almost immediately reached for it and began studying the runes. "Son, if you didn't think I knew what I was talking about, why did you come here in the first place? I get that you're worried about your daddy, but you're the ones who came to me. So how about you let me do what you came here for me to do, and stop implying that I don't know what I'm talking about?"
Sam glanced up from the paperweight and met Dean's eyes. "He's got a point, Dean. And he does know what he's doing. The runes on this thing? They're all about keeping a soul safe and secure, and there's even a couple on here that look like they're for healing a damaged soul." He reached out, resting his free hand on Dean's arm. "This is the best place I can think of for Dad's soul to rest until we can come up with some way to get him a new body."
After a long moment Dean sighed and nodded. He knew that he was being harder on Lindsey than he should, especially since as Lindsey had said he and Sam had come to him asking for help. But he hated the very idea of leaving John's fate not only in the hands of a stranger, but in the hands of a stranger that didn't seem to be taking things as seriously as Dean thought he should and kept tossing established rituals out and making up his own instead.
If there had been anyone else who could do what they needed, and if Sam didn't seem fairly confident in Lindsey's abilities, Dean would have already been out the door and driving away. Unfortunately, there wasn't.
"All right. So once we get Dad's soul out of hell he can hang out in the paperweight while we somehow come up with a new body for him." Dean ran a hand through his hair. "What else do we need to do before we can go save him?"
Lindsey just leaned back in his chair, folding his hands over his stomach. "That's pretty much it, boys. Once I do the protective symbols we can start the ritual to send the two of you to hell after your daddy."
And from the tone of his voice, Dean thought that Lindsey might rather enjoy sending them to hell, even if they weren't going to stay there permanently. Or at least he might enjoy sending Dean there, since he seemed to like Sam well enough for some reason. Which was just fine with Dean, since the feeling was entirely mutual.
"All right, then. Let's get moving. Time's wasting." Dean grinned, shaking the tension out of his shoulders. Finally, they were almost ready to go save John. And it wasn't a minute too soon.
Next
Rating: PG
Pairing: none
Spoilers: through Crossroad Blues
Disclaimer: The last time I checked, my name wasn't Kripke. Therefore, I own none of this, more's the pity.
Warnings: none
Author's Notes: For the sake of this fic, I'm assuming that either Lindsey somehow survived 'Not Fade Away' or he got tossed into the Supernatural universe by the Powers after he died.
Summary: Sam and Dean ask for help in getting their father out of hell from Lindsey McDonald
Previous Parts: part one, part two, part three, part four
Four hours later Dean and Sam were still pouring over the books Lindsey had left them, both of them taking notes and occasionally asking the other for their opinion on ritual ingredients or protection symbols. They both looked up when Lindsey ambled back out of the bedroom, obviously still tired but in much better condition than he'd been in when he left.
"So, boys, what do you have so far?"
Sam started putting the books in some kind of order that only he understood as Lindsey got himself a cup of coffee and dropped into a nearby chair. "We know that we need to go in physically to retrieve Dad's soul, and that one of us will have to act as a temporary vessel until we're out of the hell dimension. There was something about needing an anchor, but neither of us was quite sure just how that worked."
"You boys don't need to worry about the anchor. That's where I come in."
Sam blinked a bit at that, but shrugged and continued with his listing. "We know that we'll need some sort of protective symbols to keep us safe while we're there, but I was never able to figure out the best configuration."
Dean interrupted then, glancing over at Lindsey. "We were kinda hoping that you might know what to do about that part, too."
Lindsey just nodded, lips curling up in a small smile. "I might have some ideas about that, yeah. You run into any problems?"
"Yeah, there is one tiny little problem." Dean leaned forward, bracing his hands on the table. "Once we get Dad's soul out of hell, where's it gonna go? We found some options, but neither of us is absolutely sure that any of them'll work."
Lindsey smiled. "Now see, that's the sort of forward thinking that most people in your position don't bother to do. They just figure they'll go in, grab the soul and come back and everything'll be just great. That's where they make their mistakes. It's nice to see you two are smarter than that."
That made Dean feel a little better about his and Sam's chances, but still didn't answer his question. "So, what will we do with Dad's soul once we get it back?"
"You found the ritual for bringing a soul back into a new body?" Lindsey was speaking to Sam, but his attention was still focused on Dean. "Under other circumstances I'd say you should go for that one."
Dean raised an eyebrow. "Other circumstances?"
Lindsey nodded. "Yeah. That ritual takes a hell of a lot of energy, and I really don't think you boys could pull it off right now. Maybe in a couple of weeks, but I doubt you want your daddy to wait that long."
Dean was opening his mouth to argue when Sam interrupted, flashing him a stern look that had Dean slumping back in his chair with a frown. "So, if we can't use that ritual, what do you suggest we do use?"
"We improvise."
Dean was getting really tired of the word improvise. No matter how knowledgable Lindsey seemed, how competent Bobby had said that he was, all this talk of improvising with John's soul on the line was not filling him with confidence. "We improvise?"
Lindsey just smiled at him, baring his teeth slightly more than was strictly friendly. "Unless you boys have an Orb of Thesulah tucked somewhere in that car of yours. You don't, do you?"
"We've never even seen one." Sam smiled, obviously trying to lessen the tension a bit. "Magical items like that are a little out of our price range."
"I sort of figured. Which is why we improvise." Lindsey moved over to the bookshelf and pulled down a small, round silver paperweight with runes carved into the wooden base. "You two retrieve your daddy's soul and we'll put it in here temporarily, where he'll be safe until we can work out the best way to make him a new body."
Dean blinked, staring at the paperweight doubtfully. "And that'll work? Dad'll be okay in there?"
Lindsey sighed, dropping the paperweight carefully onto the table where Sam almost immediately reached for it and began studying the runes. "Son, if you didn't think I knew what I was talking about, why did you come here in the first place? I get that you're worried about your daddy, but you're the ones who came to me. So how about you let me do what you came here for me to do, and stop implying that I don't know what I'm talking about?"
Sam glanced up from the paperweight and met Dean's eyes. "He's got a point, Dean. And he does know what he's doing. The runes on this thing? They're all about keeping a soul safe and secure, and there's even a couple on here that look like they're for healing a damaged soul." He reached out, resting his free hand on Dean's arm. "This is the best place I can think of for Dad's soul to rest until we can come up with some way to get him a new body."
After a long moment Dean sighed and nodded. He knew that he was being harder on Lindsey than he should, especially since as Lindsey had said he and Sam had come to him asking for help. But he hated the very idea of leaving John's fate not only in the hands of a stranger, but in the hands of a stranger that didn't seem to be taking things as seriously as Dean thought he should and kept tossing established rituals out and making up his own instead.
If there had been anyone else who could do what they needed, and if Sam didn't seem fairly confident in Lindsey's abilities, Dean would have already been out the door and driving away. Unfortunately, there wasn't.
"All right. So once we get Dad's soul out of hell he can hang out in the paperweight while we somehow come up with a new body for him." Dean ran a hand through his hair. "What else do we need to do before we can go save him?"
Lindsey just leaned back in his chair, folding his hands over his stomach. "That's pretty much it, boys. Once I do the protective symbols we can start the ritual to send the two of you to hell after your daddy."
And from the tone of his voice, Dean thought that Lindsey might rather enjoy sending them to hell, even if they weren't going to stay there permanently. Or at least he might enjoy sending Dean there, since he seemed to like Sam well enough for some reason. Which was just fine with Dean, since the feeling was entirely mutual.
"All right, then. Let's get moving. Time's wasting." Dean grinned, shaking the tension out of his shoulders. Finally, they were almost ready to go save John. And it wasn't a minute too soon.
Next