SPN MaryJohn AU: Here Be Dragons 1/1
SUMMARY: Exploring a planet that was supposed to be uninhabited, the Winchester brothers come across something completely unexpected.
NOTES: Written from zubenschmali and her beautiful quilted artwork for this year's spn_reversebang. It was a sheer joy to work with her, and her main art for this story is here. Go give her some love! Also, this story was inspired by the Star Trek TOS show "Squire of Gothos", and much love is extended to those writers and actors. The B'Shain belong to me, and the event Helen references is in the Bible, Mark 14.50-52.
THEN
Earth, during what would come to be known as the Dark Ages, was one of the most primitive places any of the B'Shain had known. And two of the B'Shain had been Removing from this planet for centuries.
The B'Shain - also known as the Removers - were a race of humanoid aliens and altered human beings who would remove individuals, families, sometimes entire towns from a world and seed them on other worlds, to preserve dying cultures and creatures.
This ship had been sent to what humans called Europe when records began to show a once massive population of creatures was severely dwindling due to human decimation. It seemed that the prevailing wisdom of the day was "if it is different, it is evil and must be destroyed" - and these creatures were about as different as it came.
As the B'Shain flew over the villages in their cloaked ship, the man snorted. "Honestly, these people need a new line of rhetoric. This is getting more than a little repetitive."
His companion chuckled as she loaded the guns in her lap. "Says the man who made it into this culture's Holy Writ by wriggling out of his clothing and running into the night with only what your God gave you."
"All right," he laughed. "We speak not of such things - when it's my dignity that is threatened!"
"Oh, you damaged that all by your lonesome," she quipped as she finished her task. "Loaded."
"And sighted. Get ready, Helen."
Helen nodded and wrapped her foot around the seat, anchoring herself even more than her straps as she leaned out of the window and fired. Several rounds later, she leaned back in her seat and sighed. "Done."
The man touched a toggle on the console in front of him. "Mark to Mothership. Ten tranqued and ready to go."
"Well done, you two," came the reply. "The good news is with these ten, we have reached viability. The population, with a little push and shove, can reproduce itself and thrive without genetic deterioration. We're on our way to pick them up. We'll get you as well."
"Understood." Mark closed the channel and leaned back in his chair. "So. That's that. We did it."
"With these," Helen smiled at him. "We have successfully Removed the dragons from Europe."
Helen and Mark's branch of B'Shain worked for centuries longer, Removing and relocating people from Earth to different places in the galaxy. Their jobs were always satisfying, never dull.
That job grew more interesting in the latter half of the first decade of the 21st century, when an angel contacted them, asking them to Remove a pair of brothers from America. The older had made an ill-advised deal with the creatures called demons, to save his brother at the cost of his own life in one year. There was nowhere on Earth that the demonic canines couldn't locate him - so the angel, at the brothers' request, asked them to Remove the brothers from Earth altogether.
They met the brothers, agreed, and set it in motion. By the end of it, they had not only Removed the brothers, but their ersatz "uncle" and a mother and daughter who ran a bar as well. The angel who had contacted them had become mostly human - at his request - and joined them as well.
Perhaps the most unusual part of this Removal was that these would not be taken to a planet - they were to be mobile, from planet to world and back again. These would be helpers, heroes, as they were always mean to be. To this end, the B'Shain gave them a small ship - which they named the MaryJohn after their parents - and modified their car for ground transport no matter what world they were on.
And things - as they tended to do - settled into the rhythm of living.
The Seven Systems had been in disarray for a very long time. The fifty worlds that belonged to the Alliance of Seven and the hundred worlds that did not were still very much places of lawlessness and injustice.
Slowly, though, word began to spread that a stabilising force had arrived.
Needed something found? Needed Earth history or lore? Bobby Singer was the place to look -- if you could find him.
Needed a bit of a break? Ellen Harvelle's Roadhouse was the place to be -- if you could find where it was parked that cycle.
Space-based people reported catching glimpses of a red-and-silver cruiser in areas where there was usually trouble. They reported things improving -- slowly.
But in the small settlements was where the real rumours spread.
Things were bad. Times were hard. People were suffering. There seemed no respite. No hope.
Sometimes, though, if things had gone too far? A shooting star would cross the night sky, blazing silver and red and bringing thunder in its wake.
A sleek black monster of a transport would drive into the settlement hours or days later. Its throaty rumbling purr was at once both comfort and challenge. Three men -- two brothers by birth, one brother by choice -- would be inside.
And things would change.
The Winchesters had arrived.
And everything was going to be all right.
NOW
Sam Winchester stood from the crouch he had been in and stretched until his back popped. He hoped Dean liked his surprise. Though he wasn't holding his breath waiting.
Awhile back, Dean had been kidnapped by slavers and altered to survive on a watery world. While the MaryJohn's systems had been able to restore his physical appearance to normal, the alterations to his breathing systems had been permanent.
For his health, Dean needed to be in contact with water for a decent chunk of time. Sam was not shocked that Dean had refused to consider the most efficient way to do this, because he hadn't wanted to leave his brothers.
So, Sam had taken matters into his own hands. While Cas kept Dean busy updating the ship's navigation computers with Bobby's latest information, Sam moved Cas's upper bunk bed to rest over Sam's own. Where Dean's bed rested, Sam encased the metal frame with a shallow rectangle of metal and plexiglass, just tall enough to engulf the bed completely.
He replaced the mattress with one that wouldn't be damaged, and the covers with fabrics that would be light when wet, not very heavy. The pillow was also replaced.
Then, Sam filled the tank with water.
When Dean came into the bedroom, he gasped. "Sammy?"
Sam grinned, spreading his hands. "Now you can be in the water your body needs and still sleep in the same room with us!"
"Sammy...." Dean ran a hand over his mouth and nose, then nodded. "....okay," he whispered. "Okay."
Before Sam could figure out what Dean meant by that, Cas's voice shot through the intercom. "Need you two up here. Got two planets and two worlds to choose from. Come on, I need input."
Dean smiled. "Come on, Sammy. Duty calls!" He spun on his heel and jogged out of the room, though he did give the new tank a small smile as he did.
Catching that smile, Sam followed his brother - a smile of his own tugging at his lips.
"Okay, Cas," Dean grinned as he walked in and sank into the co-pilot's chair. "Lay it on us."
Cas blinked at him for a second, then nodded as he realised that was an idiom and what it meant. "Okay, here." He reached over and toggled a switch.
The computer on the MaryJohn was consistent. It showed the planets as red spheres and worlds as blue. There was a clear difference between the two: worlds were inhabited and planets were not. This rather large system with the double suns had two planets on one side of the asteroid belt and two worlds on the other side, closer to the suns.
Dean shifted his weight in the chair and sighed. "I don't know about you two," he said softly, "but I kind of want to explore a planet this time. After Lankeer and the Starfish Club and that kind of mess, I think I need a break from inhabited worlds for a bit."
"I don't blame you," Sam nodded. "I feel the same way."
"Well, then!" Cas said. "It's unanimous! Question is, what planet to we want to explore?"
Sam asked, "Can I have the inputs that we have on the pair?"
Cas nodded and flipped a series of switches. A few moments later, a small sheaf of papers poured out into Sam's hands.
Sam flipped through them and nodded. "Okay, this one seems to have a little bit of a thinner atmosphere. Is that easier for you to fly in, Cas?"
"Other way around," Cas said. "Thicker atmosphere gives my wings more to push against, and that makes flight easier."
"Wait," Dean held up a hand. "You were shot out of the--"
"-out of the sky at Lankeer," Cas finished. "And I am fully healed. I need to fly a little, stretch my wings out."
Dean opened his mouth, and Sam interrupted, "Might be best, Dean. Let him build up his strength and stamina again."
With a sigh, Dean shook his head. "Fine," he conceded. Then he leaned over and tapped Cas's shoulder. "Any pain, though - at all --"
"I'll back off," Cas smiled. "And if I'm in the air, I'll land as quickly as it is safe to do so."
Sam chuckled. "That's our Cas - a mouthful when a simple 'got it' would do."
"He got that from you," Dean teased, and then he joined in on the laughter.
Sam glanced through the papers again, then handed one small stack to Cas. "There you go. BSP19-8. The one with the thicker atmosphere. Dean and I will handle BSP19-10, the thinner atmosphered world."
Dean took the stack from his hand and frowned. "Arbitrary designations like on TV? No, wait." He turned to the computer, while Sam and Cas shared a smile. "BSP19-10.... the tenth planet from the sun in the 19th binary star system listed in the computer's records!" Dean turned and beamed. "There's a pattern to the listing! I love it!"
Cas stood, reaching into a compartment overhead and producing a pair of keys that looked suspiciously like car keys, though they were green plastic. "If nobody objects, I'd like to take one of the shuttlecraft. That makes more sense to me, since I'm doing a single-person scouting."
"One condition," Dean said. "Scratch that, two. You take your wrist comm."
"Already planned to," Cas said. "The second condition?"
"You take the Mustang. It's the only one flight-worthy at the moment."
Sam frowned. "What happened to the Stingray?"
Dean shrugged. "I was running checks on its life-support system and got distracted by an idea for a faster propulsion system and.... well, it's in about a hundred pieces on the bay floor."
Cas shook his head, muttering something about engineers, and replaced the green keys with bright red ones. "Okay. I'll go change, then head out."
"Change?" Dean and Sam echoed, then chuckled together when they realised Cas was in navy sweatpants and a black "OZZY" t-shirt that more than likely came from Dean's closet.
Cas was still dressed for bed.
"Yeah," Dean laughed softly. "Changed might be a good idea. What did you do? Wake up and come straight up to see where we were?"
"Something like that," Cas admitted.
"Okay, then, three conditions. You swing by the kitchen and grab some food!"
"Yes, Dad," Cas chuckled over his shoulder as he left the Bridge.
"You're not helping," Dean informed his little brother, who was helplessly gasping with laughter.
~*~
Dean watched the Mustang drop out of the bay and repressurised it. He called up to the Bridge, "Cas's gone. How close are we?"
"Planetfall in about a half hour. Want to come up here or ---"
"Nah, I'll get Baby ready to go." Putting feet to words, he headed toward the huge bay that doubled as the Impala's garage.
Sam wasn't fooled for a second. He knew that Dean could handle being in space - in vacuum - very easily, but the second they entered atmosphere, his pervasive fear of flying tripped. And in Baby's bay, re-entry was muffled enough that both brothers were hoping it would mitigate the reaction. "Okay. I'll come get you once we're down."
"Fair enough. Be careful, Sammy." He cut the channel and walked into the bay, grinning as the lights shone on the Impala's glossy black finish. "Hey, Baby. Miss me?"
Like the Winchesters themselves, the Impala had been altered to adapt to their new lives among the stars. She was ground transport now, with computers and solar powered batteries and communications systems as well as built in life-support and defensive capabilities.
Dean made sure she was ready to go, and he was sitting inside of her when a shudder ran through the entire MaryJohn. He reached for the comm switch, when Sam's voice rippled into the bay. "Dean, we're in atmosphere. Planetfall in three minutes."
Dean didn't answer, and in just over two minutes there was a second shudder. "We're down, then?"
"We're down. Performing a final scan and sending the results to Baby's computer. See you there in ten. Might be a good time to take a bathroom break."
That surprised a laugh out of Dean. "Bitch!"
"Jerk." Sam sounded amused as he cut the channel.
~*~
Sam arrived a little over fifteen minutes later, freshly scrubbed and ready to go. Dean shook his head fondly and lowered the ramp from Baby's bay.
The Impala roared as she backed out of the cruiser and turned around, leaving the red and silver MaryJohn as a dwindling speck in her rear view mirrors.
"So what are we lookin' at, Sammy?" Dean asked, peering through the windshield. "Sky's blue, ground's brown...."
Sam nodded. "Yeah, atmosphere's nearly Earth-normal. Gravity's a little lighter, too."
"So we're a little stronger here," Dean nodded. "I can live with that."
"I'm sure you can," Sam chuckled. "You always enjoy--" He broke off, startled, as a large shadow crossed the Impala. "....what the hell...."
"I don't know," Dean said. He pointed the car toward the distant hills and pushed a little harder on the accelerator, just in case. "We're in the open, here. Need to get somewhere a bit more--"
His words ended in a shocked yell as a tongue of flame licked the ground in front of the Impala. Dean managed a quick stop, and Baby's paint wasn't even singed.
Sam's eyes widened as he looked in the mirror on his side of the car. "Uh... Dean...."
"Tell me you see that," Dean choked out, his own eyes huge as he looked in the rear view mirror. "Tell me I'm not crazy."
"I see it," Sam said. "But I'm not sure I believe it."
Behind the car, huge wings beating, a bright green dragon was lazily looping through the sky. It soared down at them and then back up --- toying with them. But when Dean put the car in gear and tried to drive away, the creature shot a lick of fire at them.
"Okay, so it wants us to stay put," Sam ground out.
"All the more reason for us to vacate the premises as fast as we can!" Dean yelled. "Let us go, you mangy---"
A roar and another jet of fire was the answer to that. "Great," Dean groaned. "That's just great!"
This back and forth went on for another ten minutes before Dean well and truly lost his temper. "All right!" he yelled. "That is it!"
"Dean, no!" Sam gasped, reaching for him, but he was already out of the car and yelling at the green dragon, which slowly settled to the ground and regarded the brothers with eyes that were shining with something akin to amusement.
Sam slid out of the car and, eyes on the creature, slid to his brother's side. "Dean." He touched his arm and the furious ranting stuttered to a halt. "Dean.... is it really a good idea to antagonise the creature who can barbecue us on a whim?"
Dean's lip curled. "Then why hasn't it?"
That brought Sam up short. He considered the creature with new eyes and frowned. "I don't know. You'd think it would have."
The dragon threw back its head and roared, but the brothers could have sworn it was laughing at them! Sam then gasped and grasped Dean's arm. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear..." he frowned. ".....that wasn't with my ears."
"No, it was...."
"In my head," they finished together, frowning deeply at the dragon.
The dragon was rising slowly into the air, laughing and calling mentally, 'Come on! Let's play!'
"Play?" Dean growled. "What the hell do you mean, play?"
'Play! Run! Fly!' It let a tongue of fire near them, but didn't come close with it.
Being careful, the brothers realised. "It....thinks we're toys," Sam gasped.
'Levian!' suddenly blasted into their minds. 'What in the fire's name are you doing?'
As the brothers watched, twin beasts - at least three times the size of the first dragon - flanked the first one, who flew in delight up and around one of them.
'Toys, Mother!' it chirped. 'These toys came to play with me!' It squawked aloud as one of the larger dragon's paws came up and gently pushed it to the ground.
The other larger dragon studied the brothers. A decidedly male voice boomed into their heads. 'These are not toys, Levian. These are men.'
'Men?' The dragon - the child, they now realised - squawked a louder, distressed wail and hid behind the wing of his mother.
Both brothers were holding their heads. "I'm sorry," Sam gasped. "You're a little loud!"
The male, a dragon of a darker colour than the child and female, tilted his head. His tone was confrontational, but nonetheless, the mental volume was not quite so painful. 'What have you come here for, Man? Have you come to resume the slaughter of old?'
"Wait a second ... slaughter?" Dean gasped. "We didn't even know you were here!"
The male's eyes narrowed. 'Lies. The men on the inner planets know full well of us, and do not set foot here. So I repeat--'
Sam held up his hands. "We speak the truth!" he declared. "We are not of the inner planets! Our ship is over the ridge, there!" He pointed behind himself. "Our records showed this as an uninhabited planet that we came to explore. We had no clue you were here!"
'Remain.' The male ordred the other two, and his wings lifted him in the direction Sam had pointed. In less than a minute, he was back. He landed lightly, and described a very familiar red and silver cruiser.
The brothers nodded in unison and Dean said, "That's our ship. Her name is the MaryJohn. But why didn't you just see that was the truth, since you can obviously read our minds?"
'No.' The male's voice had gentled a bit. 'We can project our speech into your minds. We can understand your spoken words by the same ability. We are unable to pull your thoughts and read them.' He seemed to take a deep breath. 'So - I repeat. Have you come to begin the slaughter anew? And speak truly.'
"No, sir," the brothers chorused, then Sam said, "But others might come, now. You showed us kindness, sir. You could have fried us where we stood, but you chose to talk instead. How can we return that kindness?"
'Leave,' the female said.
'My mate speaks for me,' the male said. 'But what you say speaks true as well. I shall meet with our leaders and tell them of this encounter. In the meantime, you shall leave our world.'
Dean snapped his fingers. "A beacon! We can leave a small satellite in your world's orbit. Have it broadcasting a message that this world is not safe for humans!"
'Wise,' the male said. 'But what shall the message be?' Upon hearing Dean's suggestion, the brothers were treated to the terrible but beautiful sound of draconic laughter.
~*~
Five hours later, Dean stood in the doorway of the shuttle bay and watched the Mustang slide into her place. Upon re-pressurisation, a visibly tired Cas emerged.
"Wow," Dean chuckled. "You look rode hard and put up wet!"
"Not a horse, Dean," Cas sighed. He walked over and they headed toward their sleeping quarters. "There isn't a single living thing on that planet, except plants. It was quite a boring flight. How was your planet?"
"Tell you what," Dean grinned. "You get some rest, and I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."
Cas did not make it to the top bunk. He keeled over on the bottom one and was asleep in seconds, a quiet hum of a sigh escaping as he slid deeply into slumber.
Dean chuckled and pulled off his adopted brother's shoes before he walked to the Bridge. "Hope you weren't planning on sleeping in your bunk tonight."
"Oh, no," Sam chucked. "Exhausted, huh?"
"Out like the proverbial light," Dean grinned. "A whole strand of them!" Then he sobered a bit. "Is it deployed?"
Sam activated the viewscreen, and Dean could see the small sphere circling the planet. "Perfect. Is it broadcasting?"
"Not yet," Sam grinned. "Want to do the honours?"
Dean's grin spread again and he typed in the sequence that would start the broadcast. They listened through a couple of times to make certain it would cycle through, then Dean nodded at Sam, who guided the MaryJohn away from that world.
Dean had recorded two sentences that the beacon replayed over and over. The first was an unequivocal order, and the second was a notation from old Earth maps. It was shorthand for "Danger Waits Here", that any human explorer would instantly recognise.
Keep away from this planet. Here, there be dragons. ... Keep away from this planet. Here, there be dragons. ....Keep away --
END