Fic: Down the Only Road I've Ever Known (7/7)
Fic: Down the Only Road I've Ever Known (7/7)
Summary: The Impala breaks down in the remote Appalacians, where folks keep to themselves and resent outside intrusion. Sam, Dean and Chloe discover how hard this makes hunting.
Author: pen37
Beta: Clarksmuse
Fandoms: Smallville/Supernatural
Characters: Chloe, Sam, Dean
Pairing:Chloe/Dean
Rating: Pg (It's Supernatural, guys. Draw an X on the map and mark it Terror Incognita: here be monsters).
This is a part of the Special Projects series. You can find the rest of the series here.
Written for the Crossovers100 challenge. Prompt #50 Spade. The table is here.
A/N: Pretty Chloe/Dean art here that I commissioned from Bri-chan.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
They found the grave of Sara and Emily Sutter in the oldest part of the cemetery, in the shadow of the old church. They worked quickly. Digging a grave had always gone faster when there were two of them. And Sam could tell that Dean wanted to get this one over with as quickly as possible. Probably because he didn’t want to leave Chloe guarding the smarmy Michael O’Shawnassee longer than she had to.
Within an hour, Dean’s shovel scraped against the bony brow-ridge of a naked skull. Sara and Emily Sutter had been buried over a century and a half ago in a wooden casket. Over time, the coffin had collapsed and decayed, leaving behind only the bones.
Sam and Dean worked quickly. Within ten minutes, they’d uncovered the bones. Then they crawled out of the hole and poured lighter fluid into it.
Dean struck a match and let it fall. As it arched out over the open hole, movement from across the cemetery caught his attention.
Chloe was running full-tilt, as if she had a hellhound on her trail, straight for the open grave.
“No!” She shouted and dove. She slid through the grass and up to the lip of the hole. Her hand closed over the falling match.
Dean watched it flare out between fingers that were already greenish with her healing ability. He looked up at her determined face in confusion. “Chloe?”
She stood, shook out her burned hand, and turned to Sam. “Can you find where they buried Susan Rush’s baby?”
Sam nodded. “Why?”
“Because the ghost of Sara Sutter asked me to dig it up.”
“What?” Dean looked at her with wide, surprised eyes.
“The legend said that her spirit kept her own baby alive. I think that maybe that’s what she’s doing to Susan Rush’s child.”
“Chloe, the baby was dead when they buried it.” Dean said gently.
“Maybe not,” Chloe replied.
“Okay,” Dean said with a roll of his eyes. “Why not? We’ve already got one hole in the ground. What’s another?”
Sam climbed the steps of the church, and looked over the cemetery like a captain in a Crow’s nest.
“I see four new graves over there -“ He said.
As they rushed across the cemetery, Chloe explained her theory. “They never took the baby to the hospital. Instead, they just assumed it was dead and buried it.”
“If you’re right, then that’s what stirred up Sara Sutter,” Sam said. “Another mistaken burial.” They came to the newer section of the cemetery, and looked at the four freshest graves. Graves so recently-dug that they had yet to place a marker over them.
“The smallest one,” Dean said.
Chloe nodded, and held up the flashlight while the two brothers began to dig.
“So she takes revenge by killing the three boys who had been asked to open the ground?” Dean guessed.
“And went after the father,” Chloe nodded. “She may have gone after Susan as well - if Susan hadn’t hung herself first.”
Their shovels struck the lid of a vault. Working together, they levered it off, and then pried back the tiny coffin lid. As soon as they did so, the cry of an infant rang out in the night.
Chloe dropped to her knees and pulled the baby from the casket.
“How?” She looked at them, eyes wide in wonder. “How could a ghost?”
Sam shrugged . “Who knows?”
“We should get that kid to a doctor - and then shag ass out of here,” Dean said. “I got a feeling that we’re not going to be real popular in town once the story gets out.”
Chloe cradled the baby to her chest, naked relief etched into the planes of her face. As they walked back toward the exit, a siren in the distance caught their attention.
“Five-Oh!” Dean said. “We need to be gone.”
The three of them ran for the car. They reached it in time to see a fire truck blast past the cemetery.
“Wonder where that’s headed,” Dean raised an eyebrow.
Chloe tilted her head in thought. Her eyes widened in dawning realization. “Michael!”
The three of them drove through Matoaka slowly. As they passed the county extension office, they could see an intense fire blazing throughout the building. A couple of EMT technicians were standing around, looking bored.
“I told him to stay inside the lines,” Chloe said.
“Looks like he didn’t listen.” Dean didn’t sound that broken up by the idea. “We can unload that kid on the EMT there. Then we should get our stuff, and get the car running. I don’t want to hang around any longer.”
“What about Sarah Sutter?” Chloe asked.
“If you want, we can drop a match in her grave on the way out of town,” Dean said. “But - I think her business is probably finished here.”
Chloe nodded and handed the baby off to Dean.
While Dean slipped the baby into the front seat of the ambulance, Sam crept up behind them.
Once Dean was away, Sam shouted at them. “Hey! There’s a baby in your front seat.”
Then he hurried back to the rental car. As they sped away, Chloe looked back in time to see the emergency medical workers pulling the baby out of the ambulance.
***
The Impala’s engine sounded like a hungry beast as Dean pushed her to devour ground like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. He glanced into the rear-view, and was gratified to see Chloe resting peacefully - not convulsing in the throws of another dream about meteor rocks falling from the sky.
She was really beautiful when she slept. Well, he thought she was beautiful all the time. But when she slept, it was as if she didn’t have the weight of the world on her shoulders.
He glanced over at Sam and noted that he was reading some kind of eastern philosophy book.
“What’s that for?” He asked.
“Chloe suggested it.” Sam said without looking up. “She thought that meditation might help me get a handle of the telekinesis.”
“That working?”
“Not yet,” Sam also glanced back at her. “But if anyone can help, I think it’s her. At least she understands where I’m coming from.”
Dean grinned. “And you didn’t want her with us.”
Sam shrugged at that. “I have been wrong on occasion.”
Dean glanced up into the mirror at Chloe again. “Damn right.”
Sam grinned and looked back at the book.
“So this has been fun,” Dean said.
“Fun?” Sam raised an eyebrow at that. “Suicide? Infanticide? Strange guys with pedophilia tendencies hitting on Chloe?”
Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. “I just meant that . . .” He shrugged. “We’ve been so wrapped up in this hero crap lately. It’s kind of nice to have an old fashioned ghost to chase. Plus - the baby ended up okay. So we kind of got a happy ending.”
“There is that,” Sam said. “And we haven’t had a lot of those lately.”
Unbidden, Dean’s eyes strayed back to the reflection of Chloe’s sleeping form. He glanced from her to Sam and back. As far as he was concerned, any case that the three of them could drive away together from was a good case. “I’m working on it,” he said with a shrug, and turned his attention back to driving.
Summary: The Impala breaks down in the remote Appalacians, where folks keep to themselves and resent outside intrusion. Sam, Dean and Chloe discover how hard this makes hunting.
Author: pen37
Beta: Clarksmuse
Fandoms: Smallville/Supernatural
Characters: Chloe, Sam, Dean
Pairing:Chloe/Dean
Rating: Pg (It's Supernatural, guys. Draw an X on the map and mark it Terror Incognita: here be monsters).
This is a part of the Special Projects series. You can find the rest of the series here.
Written for the Crossovers100 challenge. Prompt #50 Spade. The table is here.
A/N: Pretty Chloe/Dean art here that I commissioned from Bri-chan.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
They found the grave of Sara and Emily Sutter in the oldest part of the cemetery, in the shadow of the old church. They worked quickly. Digging a grave had always gone faster when there were two of them. And Sam could tell that Dean wanted to get this one over with as quickly as possible. Probably because he didn’t want to leave Chloe guarding the smarmy Michael O’Shawnassee longer than she had to.
Within an hour, Dean’s shovel scraped against the bony brow-ridge of a naked skull. Sara and Emily Sutter had been buried over a century and a half ago in a wooden casket. Over time, the coffin had collapsed and decayed, leaving behind only the bones.
Sam and Dean worked quickly. Within ten minutes, they’d uncovered the bones. Then they crawled out of the hole and poured lighter fluid into it.
Dean struck a match and let it fall. As it arched out over the open hole, movement from across the cemetery caught his attention.
Chloe was running full-tilt, as if she had a hellhound on her trail, straight for the open grave.
“No!” She shouted and dove. She slid through the grass and up to the lip of the hole. Her hand closed over the falling match.
Dean watched it flare out between fingers that were already greenish with her healing ability. He looked up at her determined face in confusion. “Chloe?”
She stood, shook out her burned hand, and turned to Sam. “Can you find where they buried Susan Rush’s baby?”
Sam nodded. “Why?”
“Because the ghost of Sara Sutter asked me to dig it up.”
“What?” Dean looked at her with wide, surprised eyes.
“The legend said that her spirit kept her own baby alive. I think that maybe that’s what she’s doing to Susan Rush’s child.”
“Chloe, the baby was dead when they buried it.” Dean said gently.
“Maybe not,” Chloe replied.
“Okay,” Dean said with a roll of his eyes. “Why not? We’ve already got one hole in the ground. What’s another?”
Sam climbed the steps of the church, and looked over the cemetery like a captain in a Crow’s nest.
“I see four new graves over there -“ He said.
As they rushed across the cemetery, Chloe explained her theory. “They never took the baby to the hospital. Instead, they just assumed it was dead and buried it.”
“If you’re right, then that’s what stirred up Sara Sutter,” Sam said. “Another mistaken burial.” They came to the newer section of the cemetery, and looked at the four freshest graves. Graves so recently-dug that they had yet to place a marker over them.
“The smallest one,” Dean said.
Chloe nodded, and held up the flashlight while the two brothers began to dig.
“So she takes revenge by killing the three boys who had been asked to open the ground?” Dean guessed.
“And went after the father,” Chloe nodded. “She may have gone after Susan as well - if Susan hadn’t hung herself first.”
Their shovels struck the lid of a vault. Working together, they levered it off, and then pried back the tiny coffin lid. As soon as they did so, the cry of an infant rang out in the night.
Chloe dropped to her knees and pulled the baby from the casket.
“How?” She looked at them, eyes wide in wonder. “How could a ghost?”
Sam shrugged . “Who knows?”
“We should get that kid to a doctor - and then shag ass out of here,” Dean said. “I got a feeling that we’re not going to be real popular in town once the story gets out.”
Chloe cradled the baby to her chest, naked relief etched into the planes of her face. As they walked back toward the exit, a siren in the distance caught their attention.
“Five-Oh!” Dean said. “We need to be gone.”
The three of them ran for the car. They reached it in time to see a fire truck blast past the cemetery.
“Wonder where that’s headed,” Dean raised an eyebrow.
Chloe tilted her head in thought. Her eyes widened in dawning realization. “Michael!”
The three of them drove through Matoaka slowly. As they passed the county extension office, they could see an intense fire blazing throughout the building. A couple of EMT technicians were standing around, looking bored.
“I told him to stay inside the lines,” Chloe said.
“Looks like he didn’t listen.” Dean didn’t sound that broken up by the idea. “We can unload that kid on the EMT there. Then we should get our stuff, and get the car running. I don’t want to hang around any longer.”
“What about Sarah Sutter?” Chloe asked.
“If you want, we can drop a match in her grave on the way out of town,” Dean said. “But - I think her business is probably finished here.”
Chloe nodded and handed the baby off to Dean.
While Dean slipped the baby into the front seat of the ambulance, Sam crept up behind them.
Once Dean was away, Sam shouted at them. “Hey! There’s a baby in your front seat.”
Then he hurried back to the rental car. As they sped away, Chloe looked back in time to see the emergency medical workers pulling the baby out of the ambulance.
***
The Impala’s engine sounded like a hungry beast as Dean pushed her to devour ground like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. He glanced into the rear-view, and was gratified to see Chloe resting peacefully - not convulsing in the throws of another dream about meteor rocks falling from the sky.
She was really beautiful when she slept. Well, he thought she was beautiful all the time. But when she slept, it was as if she didn’t have the weight of the world on her shoulders.
He glanced over at Sam and noted that he was reading some kind of eastern philosophy book.
“What’s that for?” He asked.
“Chloe suggested it.” Sam said without looking up. “She thought that meditation might help me get a handle of the telekinesis.”
“That working?”
“Not yet,” Sam also glanced back at her. “But if anyone can help, I think it’s her. At least she understands where I’m coming from.”
Dean grinned. “And you didn’t want her with us.”
Sam shrugged at that. “I have been wrong on occasion.”
Dean glanced up into the mirror at Chloe again. “Damn right.”
Sam grinned and looked back at the book.
“So this has been fun,” Dean said.
“Fun?” Sam raised an eyebrow at that. “Suicide? Infanticide? Strange guys with pedophilia tendencies hitting on Chloe?”
Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. “I just meant that . . .” He shrugged. “We’ve been so wrapped up in this hero crap lately. It’s kind of nice to have an old fashioned ghost to chase. Plus - the baby ended up okay. So we kind of got a happy ending.”
“There is that,” Sam said. “And we haven’t had a lot of those lately.”
Unbidden, Dean’s eyes strayed back to the reflection of Chloe’s sleeping form. He glanced from her to Sam and back. As far as he was concerned, any case that the three of them could drive away together from was a good case. “I’m working on it,” he said with a shrug, and turned his attention back to driving.