Fic: The Wild Hunt (8/10)

[pen37]

Fic: The Wild Hunt (8/10)
Author: pen37 
Beta: strangevisitor7 
Fandoms: Supernatural, Smallville
Pairing: Chloe/Dean (If you squint)
Rating: Pg
Timeline: For Supernatural: Assumes that everything up to Lazarus Rizing occured.  For Smallville: Assumes that Chloe and Jimmy broke it off just before Bride, but that events in Legion occured.  Also assumes that Chloe shied away from any relationship with Davis.
Written for the Supernatural Crossover Big Bang at sncross_bigbang 
Summary: When an old high school friend contacts Chloe Sullivan about some odd happenings at his job, Chloe agrees to help out  -- never realizing that "helping" means wearing a corset.  When Sam and Dean check out a disappearance at a Renaissance festival, they don't count on the help of a blonde who knows everything there is to know about paranormal -- but not so much about supernatural.  All Renaissance fairs ahve a little magic of their own.  But when the magic at this fair goes terribly wrong, it's going to take the three of them combined to solve this case.

Ch. 1,  Ch. 2,  Ch.3,  Ch.4,  Ch.5,  Ch. 6,  Ch.7,  Ch.8,  Ch.9,  Ch.10


Sam paused in his reading to admire the thorough collection of research that Chloe had compiled. It resembled something he would have put together himself - if he had the time, resources and energy. His own research seemed so much more cobbled together - the hazards of living on the road.

Among Chloe's own copious notes and assembled links was a compendium of folklore. And while the weightiest of the research was given over to Celtic lore, there was plenty to be found from other cultures as well.

In a section on Scandinavian folk tales, he found a treasure trove of information on the huldra. But before he could fully delve into it, Dean kicked the door open and marched into the room.

“We got problems,” he said.

“Do we?” Sam raised his eyebrow.

Behind Dean, Chloe slipped into the trailer, slid past him and sat down on the bed next to Sam. She smiled in a tired way at him, but otherwise said nothing.

“Yeah,” Dean said. “Some crazy rennie bitch decided she wanted to play love connection between me and Chloe.”

Sam leaned back, his eyes widening. “Could you repeat that back to me?” Sam asked. “Maybe in English this time?”

“What he's saying is that we've been cursed,” Chloe held up her own amulet to show Sam. “Thanks to these things, your brother and I are magically shackled together.”

Sam's face twisted in a mask of incredulity. “Huh.” He looked over Chloe's amulet. Then motioned Dean over so that he could get a better look at his. Then he listened to each of their stories in turn. When they were done, he leaned against the headboard of the bed and steepled his fingers in thought.

“Other than being magically tethered, are there any side effects? Nausea? Sweating? Racing heart?”

“You think we been poisoned?” Dean asked.

“Actually, I was worried about a love spell,” Sam said mildly.

Chloe shook her head.

“Not if her reaction to the cloven fruit was any indicator,” Dean said with a frown.

“Alright,” Sam passed his hand over his face wearily. “We still have a job here that's more important than your madcap comedy situation. As long as you two aren't in any immediate danger - this hunt is a little more important. I'll call Bobby. Since he built Dad's curse boxes, he can probably figure out how to neutralize this curse.

Meantime - I found out more information on the huldra.”

“Huldra?” Chloe looked sideways at Sam.

“Yeah - It's Dean's theory,” Sam said.  “And I think he might be right.”

Dean preened as Sam continued.

“According to this -- huldra were tree spirits. They lived in the woods and watched over people who made charcoal.”

Chloe snapped her fingers. “The smith was using pine branches to fire his forge.”

“Nice catch,” Dean muttered.

Sam ignored their asides as he continued with his findings. “They were known to participate in the wild hunt;which might explain some of the disappearances we've heard of.Legends say that mortals who witness the wild hunt were often kidnapped and taken away to the land of the dead.”

“That can't be right,” Chloe shook her head. “From what you guys told me, it’s been children that vanished.”

“It seemed odd to me too,” Sam nodded in agreement. “So I did a little more digging. And I found that - independently of the wild hunt, the huldra were known to steal mortals to serve them in the fairy world.”

“What does it say about driving them off?” Chloe asked.

“Lore says that if a huldra ever married, it lost its powers.”

“Well, that's helpful,” Dean pursed his lips in frustration. “Break out the priest uniforms, it's time for a shotgun wedding.”

Chloe and Sam exchanged exasperated glanced.

“So,” Sam clapped his hands together. “Calling Bobby now.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Chloe asked.

“Clean guns? Break out the iron rounds? Research alternates for fairy banishment?” Sam asked.

“Get to know each other better?” Dean hinted.

“Hoo boy,” Chloe rolled her eyes.

** *

After Sam left, Chloe hunched over her laptop and pointedly avoided eye-contact with Dean.

For his part, Dean crawled past her onto the bed and pretended to catnap.   Judging by the restless way he shifted, Chloe assumed he couldn't get any more rest than she could last night.

While mentally kicking herself for doing so, she pushed her computer aside and leaned over Dean's prone form. He started to sit up, but she pushed him back to the mattress gently.

“Relax,” She said. “I'm not after your virtue.”

“Pity,” Dean grinned up at her.

“Look,” Chloe sighed. “Could you tone it down a little? You're like a walking double entendre.”

“You know,” he braced himself on his arms. “I'm not used to getting shot down.”

Chloe smiled at that. “If it's any consolation - I'm not used to being seen as a pair of boobs . . .” She paused, a funny look crossing her face. “Well, most of the time.”

Dean's face twisted in confusion. “Did you forget you were a woman or something?”

“No,” Chloe shook her head. “But the tomcat act of yours is getting old.”

“Fine,” Dean said. “But I'm not any fun when I'm serious. All twisted, no kinky.”

“Maybe I like twisted,” Chloe said. “Roll over.”

“Huh?” Dean squinted at her.

“Your back's all tense. I was going to rub it. Maybe get you to relax so you could sleep.”

“Really?” Dean grinned sloppily. He quickly stripped down to his innermost shirt, and flopped onto his stomach.

Chloe leaned over and pressed her palms down over his tight, knotted muscles. Then, she let her power loose on the broad planes of his back. As the knotted tension released, she watched Dean subtly unclench muscles that he didn't realize he had been holding.

“Feel better?”

“Yeah,” Dean said. A hint of wonder colored his voice. “I think I might be having a religious experience.” He tilted his head back, and Chloe could see the dirty thought in his eyes. Instead of voicing it, he shook his head and lay back on the pillow.

“Well,” Chloe said. “That's progress.”

“Unf,” Dean mumbled. Within a few moments, his breathing evened out into a deep, relaxed sleep.

** *

When Sam returned to the vardo, he found Dean passed out in sleep, his posture more relaxed than Sam could ever remember seeing it.

Chloe sat at the fold-out table with her laptop, her face pinched in a pose of intense concentration. Sam noted with a faint smile that she had unconsciously stretched out a free hand to rest against the trailing fingers of Dean’s own hand on the bed.

He cleared his throat, causing Chloe to look up. She smiled at him as she casually removed her hand.

“Hi Sam,” she said. “I was just going through some old files.”

Sam looked over her shoulder at the notes on the screen. “Red kryptonite?”

“One of the variations of meteor rock that fell during the showers,” she said. “The green causes mutations. Red seems to attack the brain and lower inhibitions. It’s like being on alcohol.”

Sam wrinkled his nose. “What does this have to do with you and Dean?”

“Nothing directly.” Chloe rested her chin in her hand. “But that’s what Star doused my cousin and best friend with when she tried to match them up. I was thinking that maybe it somehow backfired on her and that’s why the bizarre matchmaking happened.”

“You’ve dealt with this a lot, haven’t you?” Sam observed.

“More or less most of my life,” Chloe said. “So what did your friend Bobby have to say about our situation?”

“Other than that my brother is an idiot?” Sam grimaced.

“That’s a given,” Chloe smiled.

“He said he would look into it,” Sam said. “Which means - if there’s an answer, then he’ll find it.”

“That’s reassuring,” Chloe said. “I’m not used to being without answers.”

Sam studied Chloe’s face intently. The short blonde blushed under his scrutiny. “What?” She asked as she ducked her head.

“You’re not the kind of girl that I would expect this kind of thing to happen to,” Sam said.

Chloe rolled her eyes at that. “Don’t tell me your brother makes a habit of getting magically shackled to strange women . . . and that is officially the weirdest thing that I’ve ever said.”

“No,” Sam laughed as he looked down. “It’s just - Dean doesn’t normally show interest in . . . well . . .”

“Someone with a brain?” Chloe raised her eyebrows. “Maybe that’s why we can’t stop fighting.”

“Maybe,” Sam said. “Have you given any thought to what you’re going to do if we can’t break this thing?”

Chloe’s eyes widened and Sam cursed himself for bringing it up. It seemed like she had been trying not to think about it.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know what I was going to do after this case,” she confessed. She swallowed, and looked away uncomfortably. “I’m kind of at loose ends right now.”

Sam covered her hand with his and she looked from it up to him.

“I was always the girl with the ten-year-plan,” she said. “Somewhere along the way, all of it just kind of imploded. And now I’m here - returning unwrapped wedding gifts, sending out resumes and wondering what the hell happened.”

Sam gave her a sad look. “Believe it or not, I can totally relate,” he said. “I used to be in college at Stanford.”

Chloe’s eyes widened. “What happened?”

Sam shrugged. “Life? You end up feeling kind of directionless when the bottom drops out.”

“What pulled you through?” Chloe asked.

“My brother,” Sam said quietly as his eyes drifted over to Dean’s slumbering form.

“I’m an only child,” Chloe whispered. Then she shook herself, almost as if shaking off a spell. “I should probably rest. Tonight will probably be a long one.”

Sam watched her put her head down on the desk. Then he looked back down at her laptop in thought.

** *

Gradually, the afternoon sunlight slanted across the vardo. When it lighted on Dean’s face he twitched and cracked one eye open.

Sam sat at the fold-out table next to the bed. Chloe’s laptop in front of him.   He stared off into space with a distant expression on his face. Next to Sam,Chloe had pillowed her head in her hands and gone to sleep.

“You were prettier when I went to sleep,” Dean said.

“Ha, ha!” Sam made a face.

“Why’s she sleeping over there when there’s a nice bed over here?” Dean said sloppily as he sat up.   “I don’t think I’ve felt this good in . . . like ever. Magic fingers have nothing on her.”

Sam looked down at Chloe’s sleeping form thoughtfully. “Hey Dean? You think we’ll get the curse broken?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Of course we will, Sam. We always manage to . . . somehow.”

“I was just wondering what it might be like to hunt with someone like Chloe.”

“What, you like her or something?” Dean frowned.

“What?” Sam looked at Dean in confusion. “No, nothing like that.” Sam said. “It’s just - she’s hunting. And she doesn’t even know what that means. I just thought . . . maybe we should teach her what we can.”

Dean looked down at her, his face softened as if he was imagining a life hunting with Chloe in tow. Then his face hardened and he shook his head. “She’s good at research. She’ll figure things out.”

Sam frowned at that. “No one is that good at research.”

“We don’t exactly bring a lot to the table,” Dean said. “We’ve both been dead at least once.”

“We’re still here,” Sam said.

“And look who isn’t,” Dean said. “Dad . . . Jo.”

“Dad is not our fault. And the last time I checked, Jo was still hunting,” Sam said.

“No thanks to us. Face it Sam, we’ve got a target on our backs. We take Chloe under our wing, and she’ll just get caught in the crossfire.”

Sam sighed and looked down at Chloe.

“Then I hope for everyone’s sake that Bobby can crack this thing.” He got up and headed for the door of the vardo.

“Where are you going?” Dean asked.

“To check the horseshoes,” Sam said.

After Sam left, Dean pillowed his head on his arms and watched Chloe sleeping. Eventually, she stirred and sat up, blinking in the sunlight.

“Morning sleepyhead,” Dean said.

“Where’s Sam?” Chloe muttered.

“Checking our fences,” Dean said. “You hungry?”

She shrugged.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go find some grub.”

“Do I have a choice?” Chloe muttered.

“Not really.”