Death in Appalachia, Chapter 25: Segmenting and Reuniting
Authors: atana_blackfox & paintercrow
Summary: Sun Tzu is back, baaaaaby!
Rating/Warning: Mature (NC-17), Warnings for story overall. Swearing (most chapters). Rape and torture chapters have separate warnings. Character deaths (Ballad novels/OCs). Sex--both hetero and homosexual.
Disclaimer: We do not own the Supernatural or Ballad novel story elements.
Thanks to jelliclefreak for the beta! Feedback is welcome!!!
Death in Appalachia, Chapter 25: Segmenting and Reuniting
Summary: Sun Tzu is back, baaaaaby!
Sam pushed his damp hair out of his eyes. He wouldn’t admit it to Dean, but he needed a haircut. There wasn’t a lot of talk in the Range Rover as they slowly bumped their way over the washboard dirt road, splashing a thick and liberal coating of mud halfway up the doors. The sun was slanting into the small valley, making the dark green leaves of late summer look brilliant, like they were about to burst out into the colors of fall, which was just a month away.
It had been a rough night. Both Zip and Jay had freaked, which of course set Vera off. By the time everyone was calmed down half the night had gone. Sam had caught a few hours of sleep before Zek Phillips, the lawyer handling Old Rattler’s estate came to pick him up to see what he’d inherited. Ben came along as well, if anything looking more tired than Sam. The Comacines had their own drama last night when Zip flipped out over something, started screaming and had to be sedated after a fight with Mike. He asked Pascal about it afterwards, seems that Zip had a flashback but wasn't sure of the details since he wasn't exactly in the loop and Zip wasn't in any shape to talk about it. From what he’d heard, Ben had to break up a fight between Zip and Mike. Every now and then there was a soft snore from the back seat, though Sam couldn’t see how anyone could sleep while being rattled around like they were. Well, except maybe Dean. His brother had stayed behind. He had watched over Jay all night and Sam didn’t think he’d gotten any sleep at all.
After climbing a tall hill, Rattler’s home finally came into view. They’d been driving over parts of Rattler’s property for a while. No, Sam corrected, it was his property now. The young Winchester shifted uncomfortably. He’d only met the old Guardian once, but he was leaving him everything. Zek Phillips, who may have known the old man’s motivations, was quiet and obviously grieving himself; Sam couldn’t muster up the nerve to intrude on his reflections by asking deeper questions.
All Sam could do was sit in the car and stare out the windshield for a moment. Old Rattler’s home was nothing more than a tar paper shack with a wide porch. There were no telephone or electrical lines; there was an outhouse a little beyond the front gate and he thought he saw a well behind the shack. Rattler had lived like it was two hundred years ago, not the 21st century.
Zek and Ben got out of the car, and stood quietly to one side of the porch, obviously waiting for him to collect his thoughts and join them. As Sam got out of the car and began walking towards them he stopped, stunned. Before him was the exactly one of the scenes that had flashed into his mind in the vision he’d had yesterday, but the dog wasn’t here. Sam looked around, confused, the vision had been so vivid, why was he seeing a part of it, but not all? Why was he suddenly worried about a dog he’d never seen? He found himself studying the surrounding tree line and meadow, but there was no movement or sounds other than the birds and the lazy drone of bees searching the wildflowers.
Nothing was said as they entered the one room shack. It was as if they were all entering an ancient, long forgotten shrine. Sam was amazed by the reverent expression on Ben’s face, but he didn’t spare him more than a second thought, he had more important things to think about right now.
The shack had a rough plank floor, an old bed with a beautifully carved headboard, a woodstove, and a table and two chairs. Bundles of herbs hung from the rafters. On shelves along one wall there was a series of small wooden carvings, roses, chains, Nativity scenes, wolves, owls, bears and other animals. Each one was a miniature work of art. There were several things laid out on the table, one of them a gorgeous handmade quilt in an interlocking ring pattern. It looked like a masterpiece. Guiltily he remembered that Vera had given him the one off her bed.
"He left a note for you," said Zek after Sam stood there for awhile, tracing the patterns of the quilt with his fingers, finding an occasional small lump sewn into the batting.
"He did?"
Zek handed it to him; it looked like Old Rattler knew he wasn’t coming back.
It was barely literate, but basically it said that Rattler was proud to leave his land to Sam and asked him to never sell it, but keep it for his and Dean’s Line. Rattler had also written that the items on the table were gifts for members of the new Lines and left it to Dean to decide who received what item. The only person he gave something to specifically was Vera; he had underlined several times that the quilt was for her. Sam felt a chill when he read that she ‘needed’ it.
Sam blinked a few times and scrubbed his face with the back of his hand, "Okay, I'll sign the paperwork."
Ben patted Sam reassuringly on the back and turned to Zek. "I'll be glad to take care of any inheritance or property taxes. Here’s my card."
Once Sam signed the papers, he looked up to see a dog standing in the doorway and smiled broadly, some of his sadness lifting. "There you are. I was wondering when you’d show up.” The grown dog gave a puppy yip and trotted to Sam, tail wagging.
Ben looked up in surprise. A black-and-white border collie was sniffing Sam's hand. His coat was matted with mud and twigs; he looked like a stray. Ben petted the top of his head while worrying about rabies. He almost said something when Sam knelt down on one knee, giving the dog’s ears a good rub while he tried to lick his face.
After a few moments, Sam murmured, “I think I know who you’re looking for.” He looked up slightly to give Ben a brief stare. “He’s coming back with us.”
All of the Comacines had quickly learned how peculiar the Winchesters and Kestersons were about animals. He just shrugged, indicating that he was letting Sam have his way.
***
Sam sat in the backseat on the way home, stroking the dog and thinking how much Jay needed a familiar right now. An old friend of Jay's showed up with Will late last night and it was Jay's turn to freak. Will had said he’d be making surprise visits to be sure the Comacines were being honest. From what he had been able to figure out, Jay had met Leah at a Christian summer camp his mother forced him to go to when he was a kid. Seeing his old friend, who was now working for the Priory, seemed to tip Jay over the edge. He had a total meltdown and tried to run. Atin was going to tag Jay but Dean convinced him to let Elizabeth, the Priory of Nyx’ empath, do it. Sam was worried Jay would fight the tag like he did the handcuffs and rip his mind apart. Jay was asleep when he left, but he hoped that the dreams he’s been having meant that this dog would be Jay’s familiar. The young Guardian really needed one right now.
* * *
Dean was happy to see Jay eating some breakfast when he came downstairs after a nap. He‘d been up most of the night, watching Elizabeth "tag" Jay while he grounded him. He still was clueless on how this grounding business worked. Elizabeth encouraged him that he was keeping Jay calmed. Dean didn’t know how that could be when he felt like he was barely holding things together himself.
His words to Vera only a few days ago were rattling around his head like an accusation. When Vera was refusing to be a Guardian, he’d said to her, "How'd you feel if you needed someone to help Jay and they wouldn't?" His words were coming back to bite him, hard. Now it was up to him to help Jay and he was the only one who could. Vera wasn’t in any position to fight the Comacines or play politics with these Orders. Despite her freezing up during the search for Sam and killing the demons, he knew that Vera could deal with all this conspiracy crap a lot better then he could. Sammy probably could too with his ginormus geek boy lawyer brain, but he was still a little messed up too.
He scowled as Pascal served him a cup of coffee and asked what he wanted for breakfast. If the young Com wasn’t being Jay’s shadow he was running the kitchen. It still chapped his ass that the guy was in trouble for saving Vera. It was obvious that they were making Pascal the scapegoat for their mistakes. He was being punished by being made Jay’s bodyguard/servant for the next year. Jay was horrified when they told him; he kind of liked Pascal and was angry at first, then seemed to have decided to make things as easy as possible for him. Dean had the strong suspicion that the Coms were doing this to create another level of control over Jay. If Jay didn’t do what the Coms wanted then Pascal would be punished for it.
Thinking about punishment Dean remembered with a jolt Jay’s court appearance next week. He glanced across the table, watching Jay picking at his eggs and making small talk with Pascal and Zip. Through the open doors to the dining room he could see Elizabeth’s frizzy head tilted down towards a book. It was rather obvious that Jay found her very existence a sign of his failure and she was trying not to attract too much attention to herself. Griffin was getting more of Jay’s breakfast than the young Guardian was. Dean couldn’t help but smile at Griff’s polite but eager expression as Jay began crumbling his bacon.
Since the kitchen was the Grand Central of the house, Dean just stayed put and waited for the Comacine he most needed to see to appear. He was almost through with his breakfast when Atin came in to check on Zip, who was rather subdued and sitting on the floor playing with some of the cats.
“Hey Atin, we need to talk.” No use in wasting what little diplomacy he’d learned on him. “Next week is Jay's court hearing and he needs to be in Chattanooga.”
Dean knew Atin was tired, like most the people here, but he didn’t expect him to look that confused. “I thought we already took care of that. Does he have another charge we missed?”
“What do you mean you took care of it?” Dean noticed Jay look up sharply at both of them. “I thought you were convinced Jay stole those bones, convinced enough to want to kill Vera.”
“No, the charges were all dismissed.” Atin shook his head. “We took care of it as soon as we knew he was a Guardian.”
He glanced at Jay whose face was blank with astonishment, and then back at Atin. “How did... Why would you do that?”
The Comacine team leader stared back at Dean for a moment. “We take care of Guardians and Hunters who get into legal trouble.”
Dean felt like he’d been hit in the back of the head with a board. "You do?"
“Yes, that's how we found you.” Atin jerked as if he just realized something important. “When you were arrested it showed up in our database, actually Zip found it. We sent the team in to get you out of jail, be sure you were safe, see if Sam was still alive and give you any help you needed. We didn't know about the demons or the murders until we arrived in Wake County. We knew you were legally dead and wanted in connection to some murders, so we got here as quickly as we could to cover things up before things went much beyond the county level.”
Jay looked between the two of them, breathing deeply. It looked like he was trying to keep from crying again. Dean didn’t know how he had any eyeballs left or hadn’t keeled over from blood loss between his bruises and bloodshot eyes. Before all this went down he’d have considered him weak for being so emotional, but Dean found himself becoming a bit more compassionate. Right now that compassion was turning into anger for Jay’s sake. “Dude, you were going to mention this when?”
“We just thought you knew - but I should have realized you couldn't have.” Atin grimaced a little, looking like he was kicking himself.
Dean was about ready to tear his hair out, getting information out of these people was like trying to get Sam to quit brooding. “Listen! Just assume that we don't know a fucking thing about you people, because we don’t!”
Atin spoke to Jay rather than answering him. “I'm sorry you’ve been worrying about it. The paperwork is on its way here, a messenger with our Order picked it up in Chattanooga this morning.”
“So does this mean I'm not going to prison?” Jay asked in a weak voice, wavering slightly on the stool he was sitting on.
“No Jay,” Atin’s voice was gentle as he looked Jay in the eye. “It's all over and your record is being expunged. Now that we know you we’d never let you go to prison for fulfilling your Guardian duties.”
Dean shook his head, trying to keep his temper. "What we've got here is failure to communicate. Jay’s been stressing about this for days, you could have told him Monday and maybe he wouldn’t have…" He stopped short. Damn it, he knew how losing it last night made Jay upset.
Jay just stared at the table for a moment, and Dean could almost see the warring feelings of relief and shame for losing control on his face, then realized Jay was struggling for control of his empathic ability again. Elizabeth looked up from her book, but Jay didn’t ‘blank out’ the way Sam did when Ben was helping him. Dean reached across the counter to lay a hand on Jay’s arm, but the young Guardian stood up abruptly when he saw what Dean was doing and went into the sun room, obviously wanting to be alone. Griffin scrambled off the table to go with him. Zip and Pascal’s eyes followed Jay, showing a depth of understanding Dean had yet to see from any of the other Coms and Atin looked ashamed. Elizabeth watched after him but didn’t follow; Dean took that as a good sign. He decided to give Jay his space, the sun room was within earshot and Elizabeth would know if he needed help. Even better, Griff was with him. He felt so helpless right now. Dean spun around and slammed his fist into the wall next to the door into the great hall as he walked out, causing a cascade of loose plaster to fall to the floor.
**
Griffin sat curled on a battered wicker sofa next to Jay. He didn’t understand everything that was happening, but he knew the young Guardian hurt and it made Dean happy when he watched him. Starlight came padding in and started to climb up the couch, her claws making popping sound on the wicker until Jay picked her up and cuddled her to his chest. She had just started purring loudly when they all heard a car pull up with a crunching of gravel.
Sam waved, flashing a grin as he and Ben walked past the sun room’s window. A strange muddy dog danced around them, yipping. A moment later the back door opened and Griffin and Star went on alert, both on their feet with fur bristling. They didn’t know if this dog was just a normal animal or a familiar. Humans could be pretty dense about these things.
Any doubts Griffin had evaporated when the dog bounded into the room. He zeroed in on Jay and thrust his nose into Jay’s crotch, smelling him deeply. Dean and his littermate watched from the doorway. Griffin trilled enthusiastically at his human while Star leaped off the couch to get to Sam. She wasn’t happy about being left behind while Sam saw to Rattler’s estate.
“Hey!” Jay yelped as he tried fending off the collie. “Sam, where'd the dog come from?”
“He found me out at Rattler's place,” Sam grinned broadly scooping up Star in one hand.
Flustered, Jay pulled the collie’s head up to look at him. The dog’s tail was wagging so hard his entire hindquarters were swaying. The dog sniffed and licked Jay's hands, his eyes captured Jay's and time seemed suspended. “Thunder?” Jay asked, feeling a little confused.
The dog yipped in agreement and Jay somehow knew that he had just named him. No, not a dog, his familiar. Overwhelmed he slid off the couch to the floor and hugged Thunder.
Jay let Thunder lick his bruised face while he pulled out the burrs and twigs caught in his long, muddy coat. He could feel how thin the dog was and got to his feet. “Come on,” he told his familiar, “I’ll get you something to eat. Hey Pascal! Is that ham still in the fridge?”
**
Atin sidled up to Dean while he was watching Jay ransack the fridge for something suitable for Thunder. Obviously Jay thought dog food wasn’t good enough, and the collie was thrusting his head into the fridge to check out what was in there. “While Jay is occupied, can we talk?”
Dean snarled at being disturbed; it was good to see Jay happy for once. He grabbed Sam's arm and motioned with his chin to follow them. Dean was too tired to think straight, he definitely wanted his "lawyer" along for any official chats with the Comacine field leader.
Sam looked at Dean annoyed, jerking his arm out of Dean’s hand. He hated to be touched abruptly but started to regret his irritation with his brother as he watched him slump into a chair. He’d seen Dean exhausted many times but never looking as burdened as he did now. Even when they had been searching for their father Dean hung on to the hope he’d be found alive, right up until they found the abandoned truck.
“So what's up now?” Dean asked, tiredly. He wasn’t looking at either one of them, just sitting there. To the two empaths, Dean was radiating distress; as if he was expecting to hear more bad news.
Atin shifted a little in his chair, “I need to discuss with you where all of you are going.”
Dean didn’t even flinch, but his eyes regarded Atin narrowly, “Do we get any say in this?”
Sam could feel Atin waffling. “Our best medical facilities are in Hawaii, so that's where Vera and Jay will be going.” Sam could feel Dean tense as Atin paused and looked at him, “Sam, we have an excellent training facility in Charleston, which is close by. Dean is welcome to go with you.”
Dean sat up straight, his earlier fatigue gone. “When you people first got here, you were planning to ship us all to Hawaii. Why the change in plans?”
Atin was hedging again, eyes darting off to the side, “Sam's doing well enough with Ben’s tag, so there is no need to send him so far away. Sam, you'll be fine, you'll come home as soon as Vera does.”
Sam could feel Dean's growing alarm at them being split up and his concern for Jay. Dean regarded Atin suspiciously. "Why the change?" Dean asked again, not happy with Atin dancing around the question.
“That was before we knew Vera was his teacher. Look, this is for the best. Vera and Jay will be fine if that's what you're worried about.”
Sam reached over to touch Dean’s forearm. Dean sighed but didn’t pull away. Dean silently communicated with Sam, letting him know he didn’t like this. Sam agreed, and Dean had the vague feeling he was concerned about Jay.
“Listen,” Dean began, “I have to train Jay. I need to be with him to get him ready for the field.”
“We have a pretty good program for young Hunters. After he recovers we'll put him in some classes. He could be finished up with it right before the Conclave. We'll bring him with us so you can see him.”
“No. Not good enough. I'm his ground, and he's freaking out. I have to be with him and Sam,” Dean insisted.
“Jay will be fine. I’m making arrangements for Elizabeth to stay with him for another week or so.”
Dean shook his head determinedly. “I promised Vera I'd look out for Jay, and I'm keeping my word. We’re going with him.”
“Dean, it's really not up for discussion. We're the only ones that can heal Vera enough to walk again, Jay is underage and we can legally keep him in our custody until he turns 21 or his Line is approved. Sam is technically rogue, so we can legally keep him in our custody as well.”
Dean bristled with anger, standing up. “You son of a bitch, we’re going with Jay. You don't want to make your Order look any worse than it already is. I’ll blow the lid off this whole can of shit if I have to.”
Atin’s eyes widened, his jaw dropped. “What do you mean?”
Dean growled, “Have you gone stupid? Like hell you don’t know what I mean, but I'll spell it out for you in real simple words. You. People. Screwed. Up. I will make your lives a living hell. I’ll let everyone know how Mike ordered a Guardian to be executed.”
Atin, regained some composure, “Neither you nor the Kestersons are recognized Lines. We didn’t do anything illegal as far as the Laws are concerned.”
“Says you. I may not be a recognized Line, but I think the other Lines and Orders will believe what I have to say. It will look bad for you, won't it?”
Atin clenched his teeth, it normally wouldn't work, but these are the damned Winchesters. Every time they sneeze at the Conclave someone would notice and discuss the implications. They’d been an urban legend of their own among the Lines and Orders so they’d be the focus of a lot of speculation and attention. Atin looked at Dean, wondering what the hell to do.
Dean looked over at Sam. Sam smiled slightly, touching Dean's arm to let him know he had Atin freaked somehow. Sam also felt smug and proud at the same time.
Dean felt bolstered by Sam’s approval and pride. He turned his attention back to Atin, his poker face in place and went for the kill. “All I'm asking is to keep my team together. Do I have to go further up the food chain on this?”
Atin stood up abruptly, “I need to contact Mistress Tudor. I'll be back soon if you want to wait here.”
Dean slumped back into the chair, eyes closed; bravado was gone as soon as Atin left. Sam started to say something but then Jay walked out onto the porch with Thunder, obviously excited about his new familiar and wanting to show him off. He opened the screen door and the collie went bounding out into the yard.
Sam stood to watch the dog with Jay. The herding instinct was strong and Thunder quickly corralled the wayward goats into one of the undamaged pens, tongue lolling. Sam went out to close the gate while Jay laughed and praised the dog. By the time Sam came back in the house, Dean was snoring in the chair.
***
Sam left Jay and Pascal giving Thunder a bath in the downstairs bathroom while he went down to see Vera. He paused in the hallway, looking at the quilt draped over his arm. Sam traced some of the stitching with a blunt finger, remembering how such quilts protected the people sleeping under them. He felt a little guilty, they’d left Vera pretty unprotected. Star started sucking on his earlobe, causing him to shudder. He reached up and caressed her head, causing her to break out in purrs. She was just getting over being left at home and was a little clingier than usual.
After a moment he tapped on the door of Vera’s temporary room and was glad to see LaShonda on duty rather than Mike or Billy Ray. She’d helped a lot with Jay, and he thought her concerned but no nonsense attitude was just right. She smiled up at him as he came into the room, looking tired but alert.
Vera was sleeping, but her color was better and she looked like she was resting well. Shade was sleeping hard herself. He reached out a gentle hand and stroked her ears softly. Starlight clambered down his arm and tumbled onto the bed, snuggling against her.
LaShonda laughed. “That little black cat has been a big help. She wakes us up if Vera needs anything when we doze off. Shade’s taken a lot of stress off us; I don’t think the poor thing has left for more than a half hour since we brought Vera in. Wouldn’t mind having one of these familiars myself.”
“They’re great.” Sam said with a fond smile, looking at Star. His familiar was still very young and spent more time sleeping than Griffin, but he was glad he was getting to watch her grow up.
“Beautiful quilt,” LaShonda said quietly. “Wedding Ring pattern. Where’d you get it?”
“Rattler,” Sam said softly. He was a little surprised to see the nurse tear up a little.
“I prepared his body for burial yesterday, Nora Bonesteel helped. His funeral will be tomorrow afternoon.”
“You did?” Sam asked, shocked.
“Honey,” she explained gently, “we may have messed up here, but we take care of Hunters. We’re not going to let ‘civilians’ take care of one of our own. Some of us are going up to hand dig his grave later today.”
Sam took a deep breath, feeling even guiltier about not providing more supernatural protections for Vera. “I need to put this over her. Help me? I don’t want to pull out any tubes or anything.”
“But why, Sam? It’ll probably get stained.”
He stroked the quilt a moment, thinking how to explain it to someone who didn’t believe in magic, then gave up. “Rattler wanted it.” LaShonda just nodded, accepting the old Guardian’s last request.
Sam smoothed the quilt over Vera as she mumbled a little in her sleep. Rattler had obviously seen something, something so dangerous that the old Guardian was worried about Vera. He wished desperately he had some control over his abilities; what good was all of his supposed power if he couldn’t protect the people he cared about?
**
Jay paused while shoveling horse shit into a flatbed trailer attached to a tractor. He looked up as he wiped his forehead with a wrist in the hot sunlight and noticed a man approaching him. He had an easy stride, black hair flopping into his hazel brown eyes and a lopsided grin. He looked comfortable in a baggy white tee and black shorts.
"Hey," Jay called in greeting.
"Sorry to interrupt your dream." The man’s eyes scanned the area nonstop, not wary but curious. "Wouldn't you rather be riding your horse than cleaning the pasture?"
"No, riding is just part of it. It's about the horses, too."
The man grinned, "You take good care of your friends. Thanks for the ham," he rubbed his stomach, "much better than the kibbled food I was expecting."
"You're welcome," Jay smiled shyly.
"I wish I could have come to be with you sooner, but I'm sure glad I'm here now." An uneasy expression crossed Thunder's face. "There's something coming, I'm not a Seer, don't know what, but it'll be bad."
"There is?" Jay asked confused, then troubled. "I thought so - but with these - people - here, I couldn't be sure."
Thunder nodded energetically. "Trust your instincts. Don't let those others make you doubt yourself." Even as a Dreamtime human Thunder acted like his dog form. He was in constant motion, not hyper but active, looking and touching things, examining the tractor, grass, and trailer as they talked.
Jay watched him a moment, then asked, "Why me? And why now?"
"I know you think the Winchesters are a mixed blessing. You're right.” Thunder grinned again, his head cocked to one side. “They’ll be a great help to you Guardians but they bring lots of baggage. I'm here for when you can't talk to Sam or Dean or even your aunt."
"Blessing?" Jay snorted, "No, more like a curse."
He didn't seem surprised by Jay's revelation. He looked up from his examination of the tractor’s dirt caked tires. "So you see no good from the Winchesters being here?" He looked thoughtful. "Do you want me to convince them to leave? I've already walked in Sam's dreams; I made him come and get me. I can chase them off if you want me to."
"No, it'd only be worse if they leave. I mean, I like them - but, things have just been so screwed up ever since I met them."
"That's life with the Winchesters. Now that you've chosen the life of a Guardian, that's your path from now on." Thunder gave another toothy grin, looking pleased with himself.
Jay sat down on the edge of the flatbed trailer. "Great," he said sarcastically, "I'm not sure I want to be one anymore."
Thunder sat next to him; not touching, giving Jay his space. "No one ever knows what it will be like before they get into it. That's part of the reason I'm here--to help."
"I've been thrown out of school, thrown out of my parents' house, arrested, beat to shit and now I'm a prisoner. I'm scared and falling apart. How can I be a Guardian, even if I still wanted to?" asked Jay plaintively.
His familiar looked impressed. "That's a lot to admit, even in a dream. I knew I made the right choice choosing you."
Jay smiled a little sadly, "You're about the only good thing that's happened in the past few months."
"You can talk to me like this anytime, Jay. Not just in dreams but when you meditate too. Just call me, or whistle. You aren't alone in this Guardian business, there's me and there's the Principality for this area. He was the one who told me about you."
"Principality?" Jay glanced at Thunder confused, he’d heard of Principalities before; he was just trying to remember what they were from his studies on mystical Judaism and Christianity. Then it struck him, they were angels or benevolent spirits that guarded a geographical area.
Thunder nodded, "He calls himself Ravenmocker."
"Sam and Dean talked about him," Jay replied, a little resentful. "Why have they seen him and Aunt Vera and I haven't?" Damn it, he and Aunt Vera were supposed to be Guardians and even the protective spirits were more concerned about Sam and Dean. Didn’t he and his aunt count for anything?
"He's been a little busy saving the Winchester’s bacon; they got some heavy duty enemies in the underworld. He'll be visiting you shortly. Actually," Thunder looked into the distance, "here he comes now. Do you want me to stay or leave?"
"Stay!" Jay was both excited and a little panicked at the thought of seeing a Principality, even though he felt slighted he hadn’t spoken to him before.
Thunder morphed into dog shape and put a paw on Jay's leg.
“Hello Pyrite.” Jay shuddered, and then realized he shouldn’t be surprised Ravenmocker knew his chosen Craft name. It still felt weird to hear someone who was virtually a stranger call him by it. “I am glad to see you and Thunder have finally met.” The Principality smiled gently and Jay wondered what he was so damned happy about.
“Yeah, not too sure about the Guardian part.” Jay couldn’t help but be pissy. If he yelled at the Coms he’d be sedated, Aunt Vera was in no position to listen to him bitch, and he was afraid if he complained to Sam or Dean they might leave him to deal with the Comacines by himself. They’d already booked and left him taking the heat in Chattanooga. Jay knew it wasn’t Sam and Dean’s fault, but still.
Ravenmocker nodded knowingly. “Thunder is correct; no one can know how it really is until they are in that position. I would have been surprised if you did not have any doubts. It would be, in fact, foolhardy to think otherwise. What is your Guardian instinct telling you right now?”
“I'm fucked,” Jay snapped, losing his temper. “And not in a good way.”
“What is the land telling you Jay?” The spirit ignored Jay’s sarcasm.
Ravenmocker’s insistence made Jay stop and reach out with his abilities, what he felt made him shudder hard. “Pockets of it are still out there - the bodies” Jay whispered. “And,” he could feel his face contorting into a frown, “something else - something even worse. I'm scared, because it's coming for...” Jay shook his head, trying to both dispel the feeling of foreboding and sharpen his knowledge of whatever this was. “Sam, Aunt Vera - it's just coming.”
“Yes, it is coming.” The Principality looked over his shoulder, nervous, as if he shouldn’t be there. “The horror is not over yet. There is nothing you can do to stop it from happening. Just use your tools, Pyrite, to see what needs to be done beyond it.”
“NO!” Jay’s feelings of terror coalesced into a scream of denial. “Nonononono! Not again! I can't - why can't I ever do anything!” He slowly slid down the side of the tractor and slumped to the ground, almost in tears. “What's the point in being a Guardian if I can never...” He felt so defeated, so broken, like something had flown apart in his head and chest that he couldn’t put back together again.
A warm, sympathetic hand touched his head and slid down to the back of his neck, massaging gently. “Soon enough.” Ravenmocker’s voice whispered, echoing strangely in the open field. “I wish I could tell you more. Rest for now, I must go.”
Jay allowed himself to burst into tears, feeling Thunder licking his face. This was a dream, damn it, he could cry here if he wanted to.
“Jay! Jay!” His eyes flew open as he felt himself gasping breaths deep into his chest. A mass of brown, curly hair floated above him and he groaned. Great, Elizabeth somehow knew he was upset and he heard Ben’s voice in the room anxiously asking about him. A warm, slick tongue danced across his face as he sat up and gently pushed Thunder away.
“I’m fine.” Jay snapped, wanting everyone out of his room. He wrapped his arms around Thunder’s shoulders and glared at Elizabeth and Ben.
Elizabeth backed away, looking a little uncertain. Ben eased around her, his voice taking on that low, soothing tone Jay hated so much. “Is your back hurting again? Need to talk?”
Jay snarled. Ben would be the last person he would confide in.
“Alright,” Ben shook his head, “hurting? Feeling anxious? Why don’t you take some more of your medications?”
“No.” Jay fumed; he didn’t want any more drugs. “Just leave me alone. Think you can manage that?” He bit everything else he felt like saying, if he wasn’t careful they’d be coming at him with needles again.
He finally convinced them to leave, and the moment they shut the door Jay snatched up a heavy mug off his nightstand and flung it at the closed door. The movement caused his back to spasm and as a result the mug hit the door with a dull thunk then rolled across the floor, denying him the satisfaction of seeing and hearing it shatter.
Jay leaned back onto his bed, Thunder whining and nudging him as he fought off tears, not wanting Elizabeth and Ben to disturb him again. It was pathetic that he couldn’t even manage to break a ceramic mug.
***
Sam sat in the middle of the bed he shared with Dean, the items from Rattler’s place spread out over the bed against the backdrop of the multicolored quilt. He ghosted his hands over them, wondering about the old Guardian's thoughts as he laid these items out for him. Dean was supposed to decide who these bequests went to, but Sam decided he would choose his own.
The large, antique bowie knife didn’t call to him at all. The blade was at least a foot long with what looked like a carved bone handle and it practically screamed ‘Dean’. There were three roses carved out of red cedar and a large horse carved from a deep golden wood. An antique rifle lay on a towel; he didn’t want to risk any gun oil getting onto the quilt. There were a few crystals that looked nothing like the ones in new age stores; they were rough, raw, looking like they’d just been dug out of the earth. There were also other rod-like stones in a deep red, blue and green. Huh, he’d have to ask Jay or Vera about those.
It was another stone that caught his eye, intertwined stones in the shape of a cross so perfect Sam wasn’t sure if it was carved or natural. His hand hovered over the stone, a feeling of soft warmth coming from it. With a smile Sam picked it up. This was for him. He might be the student of a Pagan priestess, but he knew his faith was in the God of his childhood, that he learned from Pastor Jim. He’d seen demons and now he’d seen an angel, albeit a very strange angel. He couldn’t think of any other word to describe Ravenmocker.
As Sam’s fingers closed over the stone he knew that no, it wasn’t carved, this little stone cross was naturally formed. This was how Rattler found it on his ramblings over his land.
Faith was a wonderful thing and was renewed in the strangest ways.
“Dude! There you are.” Dean’s face held a harsh smile but he radiated a bitchy smugness as he leaned against the doorway.
“Morning Captain Narcolepsy, nice of you to join the land of the waking.” Sam was just glad he was smiling, but he wondered what had Dean in such a strange mood.
“Clever Sammy, clever. A college boy and that’s the best you can come up with?” He tisked a moment before getting down to business. “Just talked to Atin and we're all staying together. We’re all going to Hawaii and Will and the Priory are taking over here. They’re going to start coming in tonight.”
Sam paused, not knowing how he felt about this. He was glad they were all staying together, but leaving at all just felt wrong. Jay and Vera’s power was at its strongest here, Ravenmocker watched over them here. He and Dean would travel, they were still Hunters, but damn it, this was home now.
Dean’s smirk faded. “I know Sammy, I know. We gotta make the best of it for now. After Vera gets better, we’re opening a can of ass whuppin’.” He finally noticed all the items scattered in front of Sam on the bed, his eyes almost immediately straying to the bowie knife in its worn leather sheath. “What are these?”
“From Rattler’s. He left a note, said this was for us and our Line. You get to choose who all this goes to.” Sam opened his hand to show what he had chosen. “I’m taking this.”
A look of recognition and a ghost of a smile flitted across his face. “A fairy cross.”
“What? Dude, what’d you call it?”
“A fairy cross. Don’t tell me I know something your geeky brain doesn’t. They’re found up here, valued as a protective talisman. Both the Wyler cousins have them.”
“Oh.” Sam paused a moment, Dean was growing, changing in so many ways it was almost hard to keep up with him. He kind of liked it, though; it was almost like Dean was finding his own depth, his niche in the scheme of things. They were both going through some fucked up growing pains, though.
Dean’s hand went to the bowie knife, just like Sam knew it would. It was good to know some things would never change; Dean would always go for the largest surrogate penis he could find. After holding the knife for a moment, Dean set it down on the bedside table and reached for one of the roses and inhaled its fresh cedar scent.
“I think he was carving this the day I met him.” Dean’s voice was a low rumble, Sam nodded, understanding.
“He knew he was going to die Dean. He may have even known then.” His brother looked up at him sharply then twirled the rose in his hand by the stem.
“Then this one is for Vera.”
Sam smiled. “Rattler wanted her to have a quilt: I’ve already taken it down to her.” Sam shuddered uncontrollably. “His note said she needed it.”
Dean’s expression sharpened, his brows drawing down over his eyes and Sam knew he’d just snapped into his Hunter role. No matter what else Dean may be or might become, he was a Hunter and protector to the marrow of his bones. If Vera was in danger, then they all were, and Dean had just decided to become very, very dangerous.
***
Water stained plaster. Not a pretty sight. Vera tried to roll her eyes around, to see the room around her. She heard Shade chirp and then meow pitifully as her black head suddenly popped into view. Her face was assaulted by a raspy cat tongue and when she opened her mouth to protest Shade started licking the roof of her mouth.
“Bleagh! Shade!” Vera might let her familiar eat off her plate, but this was a little too much even for her.
“Damned cat,” she heard a voice grumble nearby.
That accent, she knew it. “Alabama,” she said aloud, not realizing she was speaking. She felt a wave of generalized annoyance and then a vaguely familiar male face appeared above her, pale skin, broad cheeks and freckles. Whoever he was, he wasn’t happy to be here. This man was actually afraid and afraid of her. Considering she was flat on her back and couldn’t move this was confusing to say the least.
“Let me take care of her.” The voice was firm and rich, the man’s presence was soothing and Vera sighed under his influence. Another face appeared above her, this one dark and warm, somehow making her think of cinnamon. His hand cupped her forehead.
“Remember me?” Vera was startled to hear Shade trill at the man.
“No, not really.” She blinked a few times, trying to remember. She knew she was hurt, the Circle, and Dean and Sam and Jay…but that couldn’t be right. Sam wasn’t hurt the last time she remembered seeing him. Today, yesterday, now and tomorrow all seemed tumbled together somehow and she couldn’t straighten it all out.
The man nodded, as if he wasn’t surprised. “My name is Atin, and you’re at home.” Atin went on to give her a brief and edited version of what happened after she was injured, repeating things he knew she’d already been told. Vera was relieved, glad to have all the good news of everyone being alive and recovering confirmed for her again.
Atin’s hands gently cradled her head, thumbs softly rubbing her temples. “You’re going to be just fine.” His voice was soft with promise. “We’ll be able to take off the neck brace soon and you can move a little. You’ll be up and around in no time.”
Vera struggled to keep her eyes open. “I don’t want to go back to sleep,” she mumbled.
He laughed. “You might as well, you can’t move and we both know how bored and grumpy you’ll get if you stay awake. Your boys are fine; the farm is taken care of, and that article about the historic documents you found can wait.”
She was drifting off again, but this time wrapped in a warm, soft blanket and she wasn’t alone. Vera knew that Atin was somehow in there with her. As she slid under, she wondered how he knew about the article.
***
Thus the army is established by deceit, moves for advantage, and changes through segmenting and reuniting. Thus its speed is like the wind, its slowness is like the forest; its invasions and plundering like fire; unmoving, it is like the mountains. It is as difficult to know as the darkness; in movement it is like thunder.
Dean traced his hand over the text. Established by deceit; changes through segmenting and uniting. His ‘army’ consisted of six people; Joe LeDonne, Maryanne and Ruby Wyler, Vera, Jay and Sam. Vera was injured and Jay had to stay with her. Sammy’s abilities were out of control. His most powerful psychics were out of action. Joe was an experienced soldier and cop, but was just learning about the supernatural. Ruby and Maryanne were natural hell raisers and didn’t have any experience, but they knew the area and their family was certainly an ally.
Segmenting and reuniting. His crew was getting split up; Joe, Ruby and Maryanne weren’t strong psychics and it was obvious that the Comacines thought they were beneath their notice. Big mistake, he and Sam were both dangerous by the time they were 10.
Once the Coms had them in Hawaii they would be cut off. Small island, it would be easy to control their access to the outside world. They seemed to be positively drooling over the prospect of having Jay under their control; who’s to say they’d really let any of them go to this Conclave to get recognized?
One thing was clear; somebody had to be there to speak for them.
Dean wrestled with the thought, but after a few moments he had to admit what their best chance was.
He had to send Sammy away to the Priory. College boy was pre-law and he was already studying these Orders legal system. He had to stay with Jay and Vera; they’d both be too vulnerable without him.
Besides, he didn’t like the idea of the Comacines training Sam anyways. Like Cheryl said, they were afraid of Jay and Vera, they could do things the Coms had never heard of. He’d heard Jay and the Comacines tying to talk about magic and psychic abilities, and it was like they were speaking two different languages. A lot of the members of the Priory had been trained by Vera, so they could teach Sammy close to the same way she would.
Damn these sons of bitches, he was just now getting his brother back from losing his mind to his abilities, and now they had to split up. Dean took a deep breath and closed the book. Joe, Ruby and Maryanne would be here to hold down the fort, he would go with Vera and Jay to Hawaii, and Sam would go to the Priory, beyond the Comacines’ control. Then they’d all come back together at this Conclave. Segmenting and reuniting.
Only problem was how in the hell was he going to keep his plans secret in a house full of psychics?
***
A notebook hit the wall with a satisfying thwack and Thunder whined. Jay took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and hugged his familiar. He’d done both a Tarot and an I Ching reading and he didn’t like what either one said.
Jay had a little seer ability, not enough to have full blown visions like Sam or Pascal. He mainly just had hunches. Supplementing the little ability he had with magic, like using Tarot and other divination tools strengthened his ability.
The I Ching hexagram he’d built had two changing lines. The base hexagram was Childhood, alternating to Keeping Still. Childhood indicated that he should be ‘willing to accept education’ and in a period of change and growth that was inevitable. He was supposed to be ‘humble’ to his teacher. Great.
Keeping Still was almost worse. Be quiet, be still, mediate, time isn’t good for movement.
Basically he was just supposed to suck it up and wait for things to change.
It was the Tarot reading that almost had him in tears again. His significator or the card representing him was the Page of Swords: vigilance, spying, secret service. Well, he was a sneaky little bastard; even he had to admit that. What crossed him was the Hanged Man; even better. He was suspended right now between two major periods of his life in a kind of limbo. One had ended but the other really hadn’t begun yet. Just had to wait it out, it echoed what the Keeping Still hexagram told him. Past; Nine of Swords, worry and insomnia. Present; the Wheel of Fortune, something preordained, karma. This just kept getting better and better.
The next card chilled him; The Tower. Sudden and unforeseen tragedy and adversity. How could things get any worse?
Rest of the reading was just annoying. Five of Cups; basically quit whining, things were better then he thought. Queen of Swords, a widow, a barren woman who knew deep sorrow. In his deck, the Art Nouveau Tarot, it showed a woman clasping a sword blade, her blood flowing down it. Aunt Vera, but close to her was Strength; courage, inner strength and leadership. It was also a hidden or potential strength, like the power of a tiny acorn to become a powerful oak.
What the hell? Two of Cups, a successful marriage or joining, a merger between two things, making them more powerful. Whatever. Jay didn’t see how that made any sense in the current situation.
Final result cards were Justice and Death. The Death card didn’t upset Jay, but rather made him thoughtful. It was the card of new beginnings, the death of the old and the birth of the new, which fit in with The Hanged Man card. It was also the card of rebirth and Initiation, the great Mysteries. Justice represented vindication, acclaim in a court of law. Jay wondered about that one, too. Did it have to do with the Coms getting his charges dismissed?
Jay had just silently thanked the Gods and was putting his deck reverently away when there was a tap on his door.
“Go the fuck away!” he yelled at the door, not wanting to be checked on, fussed over, offered a massage or talked into taking more pain killers, muscle relaxers or anti-anxiety medications. He knew it wasn't Pascal either, since Atin had sent him off to the store.
The door opened despite his warning. Thunder's ears were pricked forward; he obviously knew who was coming in and was relaxed. It couldn't be a Comacine or Sam; Thunder was tense whenever Sam came near him for some reason. He would have to ask him about that the next time he meditated.
Dean came in and closed the door behind him. Before Jay could speak, Dean started talking in a low and urgent voice. “Dude, this invisibility thing you do, can you teach Sam how to do it and can you do it for somebody else?”
Chapter 26: Something...
Summary: Sun Tzu is back, baaaaaby!
Rating/Warning: Mature (NC-17), Warnings for story overall. Swearing (most chapters). Rape and torture chapters have separate warnings. Character deaths (Ballad novels/OCs). Sex--both hetero and homosexual.
Disclaimer: We do not own the Supernatural or Ballad novel story elements.
Thanks to jelliclefreak for the beta! Feedback is welcome!!!
Death in Appalachia, Chapter 25: Segmenting and Reuniting
Summary: Sun Tzu is back, baaaaaby!
Sam pushed his damp hair out of his eyes. He wouldn’t admit it to Dean, but he needed a haircut. There wasn’t a lot of talk in the Range Rover as they slowly bumped their way over the washboard dirt road, splashing a thick and liberal coating of mud halfway up the doors. The sun was slanting into the small valley, making the dark green leaves of late summer look brilliant, like they were about to burst out into the colors of fall, which was just a month away.
It had been a rough night. Both Zip and Jay had freaked, which of course set Vera off. By the time everyone was calmed down half the night had gone. Sam had caught a few hours of sleep before Zek Phillips, the lawyer handling Old Rattler’s estate came to pick him up to see what he’d inherited. Ben came along as well, if anything looking more tired than Sam. The Comacines had their own drama last night when Zip flipped out over something, started screaming and had to be sedated after a fight with Mike. He asked Pascal about it afterwards, seems that Zip had a flashback but wasn't sure of the details since he wasn't exactly in the loop and Zip wasn't in any shape to talk about it. From what he’d heard, Ben had to break up a fight between Zip and Mike. Every now and then there was a soft snore from the back seat, though Sam couldn’t see how anyone could sleep while being rattled around like they were. Well, except maybe Dean. His brother had stayed behind. He had watched over Jay all night and Sam didn’t think he’d gotten any sleep at all.
After climbing a tall hill, Rattler’s home finally came into view. They’d been driving over parts of Rattler’s property for a while. No, Sam corrected, it was his property now. The young Winchester shifted uncomfortably. He’d only met the old Guardian once, but he was leaving him everything. Zek Phillips, who may have known the old man’s motivations, was quiet and obviously grieving himself; Sam couldn’t muster up the nerve to intrude on his reflections by asking deeper questions.
All Sam could do was sit in the car and stare out the windshield for a moment. Old Rattler’s home was nothing more than a tar paper shack with a wide porch. There were no telephone or electrical lines; there was an outhouse a little beyond the front gate and he thought he saw a well behind the shack. Rattler had lived like it was two hundred years ago, not the 21st century.
Zek and Ben got out of the car, and stood quietly to one side of the porch, obviously waiting for him to collect his thoughts and join them. As Sam got out of the car and began walking towards them he stopped, stunned. Before him was the exactly one of the scenes that had flashed into his mind in the vision he’d had yesterday, but the dog wasn’t here. Sam looked around, confused, the vision had been so vivid, why was he seeing a part of it, but not all? Why was he suddenly worried about a dog he’d never seen? He found himself studying the surrounding tree line and meadow, but there was no movement or sounds other than the birds and the lazy drone of bees searching the wildflowers.
Nothing was said as they entered the one room shack. It was as if they were all entering an ancient, long forgotten shrine. Sam was amazed by the reverent expression on Ben’s face, but he didn’t spare him more than a second thought, he had more important things to think about right now.
The shack had a rough plank floor, an old bed with a beautifully carved headboard, a woodstove, and a table and two chairs. Bundles of herbs hung from the rafters. On shelves along one wall there was a series of small wooden carvings, roses, chains, Nativity scenes, wolves, owls, bears and other animals. Each one was a miniature work of art. There were several things laid out on the table, one of them a gorgeous handmade quilt in an interlocking ring pattern. It looked like a masterpiece. Guiltily he remembered that Vera had given him the one off her bed.
"He left a note for you," said Zek after Sam stood there for awhile, tracing the patterns of the quilt with his fingers, finding an occasional small lump sewn into the batting.
"He did?"
Zek handed it to him; it looked like Old Rattler knew he wasn’t coming back.
It was barely literate, but basically it said that Rattler was proud to leave his land to Sam and asked him to never sell it, but keep it for his and Dean’s Line. Rattler had also written that the items on the table were gifts for members of the new Lines and left it to Dean to decide who received what item. The only person he gave something to specifically was Vera; he had underlined several times that the quilt was for her. Sam felt a chill when he read that she ‘needed’ it.
Sam blinked a few times and scrubbed his face with the back of his hand, "Okay, I'll sign the paperwork."
Ben patted Sam reassuringly on the back and turned to Zek. "I'll be glad to take care of any inheritance or property taxes. Here’s my card."
Once Sam signed the papers, he looked up to see a dog standing in the doorway and smiled broadly, some of his sadness lifting. "There you are. I was wondering when you’d show up.” The grown dog gave a puppy yip and trotted to Sam, tail wagging.
Ben looked up in surprise. A black-and-white border collie was sniffing Sam's hand. His coat was matted with mud and twigs; he looked like a stray. Ben petted the top of his head while worrying about rabies. He almost said something when Sam knelt down on one knee, giving the dog’s ears a good rub while he tried to lick his face.
After a few moments, Sam murmured, “I think I know who you’re looking for.” He looked up slightly to give Ben a brief stare. “He’s coming back with us.”
All of the Comacines had quickly learned how peculiar the Winchesters and Kestersons were about animals. He just shrugged, indicating that he was letting Sam have his way.
***
Sam sat in the backseat on the way home, stroking the dog and thinking how much Jay needed a familiar right now. An old friend of Jay's showed up with Will late last night and it was Jay's turn to freak. Will had said he’d be making surprise visits to be sure the Comacines were being honest. From what he had been able to figure out, Jay had met Leah at a Christian summer camp his mother forced him to go to when he was a kid. Seeing his old friend, who was now working for the Priory, seemed to tip Jay over the edge. He had a total meltdown and tried to run. Atin was going to tag Jay but Dean convinced him to let Elizabeth, the Priory of Nyx’ empath, do it. Sam was worried Jay would fight the tag like he did the handcuffs and rip his mind apart. Jay was asleep when he left, but he hoped that the dreams he’s been having meant that this dog would be Jay’s familiar. The young Guardian really needed one right now.
* * *
Dean was happy to see Jay eating some breakfast when he came downstairs after a nap. He‘d been up most of the night, watching Elizabeth "tag" Jay while he grounded him. He still was clueless on how this grounding business worked. Elizabeth encouraged him that he was keeping Jay calmed. Dean didn’t know how that could be when he felt like he was barely holding things together himself.
His words to Vera only a few days ago were rattling around his head like an accusation. When Vera was refusing to be a Guardian, he’d said to her, "How'd you feel if you needed someone to help Jay and they wouldn't?" His words were coming back to bite him, hard. Now it was up to him to help Jay and he was the only one who could. Vera wasn’t in any position to fight the Comacines or play politics with these Orders. Despite her freezing up during the search for Sam and killing the demons, he knew that Vera could deal with all this conspiracy crap a lot better then he could. Sammy probably could too with his ginormus geek boy lawyer brain, but he was still a little messed up too.
He scowled as Pascal served him a cup of coffee and asked what he wanted for breakfast. If the young Com wasn’t being Jay’s shadow he was running the kitchen. It still chapped his ass that the guy was in trouble for saving Vera. It was obvious that they were making Pascal the scapegoat for their mistakes. He was being punished by being made Jay’s bodyguard/servant for the next year. Jay was horrified when they told him; he kind of liked Pascal and was angry at first, then seemed to have decided to make things as easy as possible for him. Dean had the strong suspicion that the Coms were doing this to create another level of control over Jay. If Jay didn’t do what the Coms wanted then Pascal would be punished for it.
Thinking about punishment Dean remembered with a jolt Jay’s court appearance next week. He glanced across the table, watching Jay picking at his eggs and making small talk with Pascal and Zip. Through the open doors to the dining room he could see Elizabeth’s frizzy head tilted down towards a book. It was rather obvious that Jay found her very existence a sign of his failure and she was trying not to attract too much attention to herself. Griffin was getting more of Jay’s breakfast than the young Guardian was. Dean couldn’t help but smile at Griff’s polite but eager expression as Jay began crumbling his bacon.
Since the kitchen was the Grand Central of the house, Dean just stayed put and waited for the Comacine he most needed to see to appear. He was almost through with his breakfast when Atin came in to check on Zip, who was rather subdued and sitting on the floor playing with some of the cats.
“Hey Atin, we need to talk.” No use in wasting what little diplomacy he’d learned on him. “Next week is Jay's court hearing and he needs to be in Chattanooga.”
Dean knew Atin was tired, like most the people here, but he didn’t expect him to look that confused. “I thought we already took care of that. Does he have another charge we missed?”
“What do you mean you took care of it?” Dean noticed Jay look up sharply at both of them. “I thought you were convinced Jay stole those bones, convinced enough to want to kill Vera.”
“No, the charges were all dismissed.” Atin shook his head. “We took care of it as soon as we knew he was a Guardian.”
He glanced at Jay whose face was blank with astonishment, and then back at Atin. “How did... Why would you do that?”
The Comacine team leader stared back at Dean for a moment. “We take care of Guardians and Hunters who get into legal trouble.”
Dean felt like he’d been hit in the back of the head with a board. "You do?"
“Yes, that's how we found you.” Atin jerked as if he just realized something important. “When you were arrested it showed up in our database, actually Zip found it. We sent the team in to get you out of jail, be sure you were safe, see if Sam was still alive and give you any help you needed. We didn't know about the demons or the murders until we arrived in Wake County. We knew you were legally dead and wanted in connection to some murders, so we got here as quickly as we could to cover things up before things went much beyond the county level.”
Jay looked between the two of them, breathing deeply. It looked like he was trying to keep from crying again. Dean didn’t know how he had any eyeballs left or hadn’t keeled over from blood loss between his bruises and bloodshot eyes. Before all this went down he’d have considered him weak for being so emotional, but Dean found himself becoming a bit more compassionate. Right now that compassion was turning into anger for Jay’s sake. “Dude, you were going to mention this when?”
“We just thought you knew - but I should have realized you couldn't have.” Atin grimaced a little, looking like he was kicking himself.
Dean was about ready to tear his hair out, getting information out of these people was like trying to get Sam to quit brooding. “Listen! Just assume that we don't know a fucking thing about you people, because we don’t!”
Atin spoke to Jay rather than answering him. “I'm sorry you’ve been worrying about it. The paperwork is on its way here, a messenger with our Order picked it up in Chattanooga this morning.”
“So does this mean I'm not going to prison?” Jay asked in a weak voice, wavering slightly on the stool he was sitting on.
“No Jay,” Atin’s voice was gentle as he looked Jay in the eye. “It's all over and your record is being expunged. Now that we know you we’d never let you go to prison for fulfilling your Guardian duties.”
Dean shook his head, trying to keep his temper. "What we've got here is failure to communicate. Jay’s been stressing about this for days, you could have told him Monday and maybe he wouldn’t have…" He stopped short. Damn it, he knew how losing it last night made Jay upset.
Jay just stared at the table for a moment, and Dean could almost see the warring feelings of relief and shame for losing control on his face, then realized Jay was struggling for control of his empathic ability again. Elizabeth looked up from her book, but Jay didn’t ‘blank out’ the way Sam did when Ben was helping him. Dean reached across the counter to lay a hand on Jay’s arm, but the young Guardian stood up abruptly when he saw what Dean was doing and went into the sun room, obviously wanting to be alone. Griffin scrambled off the table to go with him. Zip and Pascal’s eyes followed Jay, showing a depth of understanding Dean had yet to see from any of the other Coms and Atin looked ashamed. Elizabeth watched after him but didn’t follow; Dean took that as a good sign. He decided to give Jay his space, the sun room was within earshot and Elizabeth would know if he needed help. Even better, Griff was with him. He felt so helpless right now. Dean spun around and slammed his fist into the wall next to the door into the great hall as he walked out, causing a cascade of loose plaster to fall to the floor.
**
Griffin sat curled on a battered wicker sofa next to Jay. He didn’t understand everything that was happening, but he knew the young Guardian hurt and it made Dean happy when he watched him. Starlight came padding in and started to climb up the couch, her claws making popping sound on the wicker until Jay picked her up and cuddled her to his chest. She had just started purring loudly when they all heard a car pull up with a crunching of gravel.
Sam waved, flashing a grin as he and Ben walked past the sun room’s window. A strange muddy dog danced around them, yipping. A moment later the back door opened and Griffin and Star went on alert, both on their feet with fur bristling. They didn’t know if this dog was just a normal animal or a familiar. Humans could be pretty dense about these things.
Any doubts Griffin had evaporated when the dog bounded into the room. He zeroed in on Jay and thrust his nose into Jay’s crotch, smelling him deeply. Dean and his littermate watched from the doorway. Griffin trilled enthusiastically at his human while Star leaped off the couch to get to Sam. She wasn’t happy about being left behind while Sam saw to Rattler’s estate.
“Hey!” Jay yelped as he tried fending off the collie. “Sam, where'd the dog come from?”
“He found me out at Rattler's place,” Sam grinned broadly scooping up Star in one hand.
Flustered, Jay pulled the collie’s head up to look at him. The dog’s tail was wagging so hard his entire hindquarters were swaying. The dog sniffed and licked Jay's hands, his eyes captured Jay's and time seemed suspended. “Thunder?” Jay asked, feeling a little confused.
The dog yipped in agreement and Jay somehow knew that he had just named him. No, not a dog, his familiar. Overwhelmed he slid off the couch to the floor and hugged Thunder.
Jay let Thunder lick his bruised face while he pulled out the burrs and twigs caught in his long, muddy coat. He could feel how thin the dog was and got to his feet. “Come on,” he told his familiar, “I’ll get you something to eat. Hey Pascal! Is that ham still in the fridge?”
**
Atin sidled up to Dean while he was watching Jay ransack the fridge for something suitable for Thunder. Obviously Jay thought dog food wasn’t good enough, and the collie was thrusting his head into the fridge to check out what was in there. “While Jay is occupied, can we talk?”
Dean snarled at being disturbed; it was good to see Jay happy for once. He grabbed Sam's arm and motioned with his chin to follow them. Dean was too tired to think straight, he definitely wanted his "lawyer" along for any official chats with the Comacine field leader.
Sam looked at Dean annoyed, jerking his arm out of Dean’s hand. He hated to be touched abruptly but started to regret his irritation with his brother as he watched him slump into a chair. He’d seen Dean exhausted many times but never looking as burdened as he did now. Even when they had been searching for their father Dean hung on to the hope he’d be found alive, right up until they found the abandoned truck.
“So what's up now?” Dean asked, tiredly. He wasn’t looking at either one of them, just sitting there. To the two empaths, Dean was radiating distress; as if he was expecting to hear more bad news.
Atin shifted a little in his chair, “I need to discuss with you where all of you are going.”
Dean didn’t even flinch, but his eyes regarded Atin narrowly, “Do we get any say in this?”
Sam could feel Atin waffling. “Our best medical facilities are in Hawaii, so that's where Vera and Jay will be going.” Sam could feel Dean tense as Atin paused and looked at him, “Sam, we have an excellent training facility in Charleston, which is close by. Dean is welcome to go with you.”
Dean sat up straight, his earlier fatigue gone. “When you people first got here, you were planning to ship us all to Hawaii. Why the change in plans?”
Atin was hedging again, eyes darting off to the side, “Sam's doing well enough with Ben’s tag, so there is no need to send him so far away. Sam, you'll be fine, you'll come home as soon as Vera does.”
Sam could feel Dean's growing alarm at them being split up and his concern for Jay. Dean regarded Atin suspiciously. "Why the change?" Dean asked again, not happy with Atin dancing around the question.
“That was before we knew Vera was his teacher. Look, this is for the best. Vera and Jay will be fine if that's what you're worried about.”
Sam reached over to touch Dean’s forearm. Dean sighed but didn’t pull away. Dean silently communicated with Sam, letting him know he didn’t like this. Sam agreed, and Dean had the vague feeling he was concerned about Jay.
“Listen,” Dean began, “I have to train Jay. I need to be with him to get him ready for the field.”
“We have a pretty good program for young Hunters. After he recovers we'll put him in some classes. He could be finished up with it right before the Conclave. We'll bring him with us so you can see him.”
“No. Not good enough. I'm his ground, and he's freaking out. I have to be with him and Sam,” Dean insisted.
“Jay will be fine. I’m making arrangements for Elizabeth to stay with him for another week or so.”
Dean shook his head determinedly. “I promised Vera I'd look out for Jay, and I'm keeping my word. We’re going with him.”
“Dean, it's really not up for discussion. We're the only ones that can heal Vera enough to walk again, Jay is underage and we can legally keep him in our custody until he turns 21 or his Line is approved. Sam is technically rogue, so we can legally keep him in our custody as well.”
Dean bristled with anger, standing up. “You son of a bitch, we’re going with Jay. You don't want to make your Order look any worse than it already is. I’ll blow the lid off this whole can of shit if I have to.”
Atin’s eyes widened, his jaw dropped. “What do you mean?”
Dean growled, “Have you gone stupid? Like hell you don’t know what I mean, but I'll spell it out for you in real simple words. You. People. Screwed. Up. I will make your lives a living hell. I’ll let everyone know how Mike ordered a Guardian to be executed.”
Atin, regained some composure, “Neither you nor the Kestersons are recognized Lines. We didn’t do anything illegal as far as the Laws are concerned.”
“Says you. I may not be a recognized Line, but I think the other Lines and Orders will believe what I have to say. It will look bad for you, won't it?”
Atin clenched his teeth, it normally wouldn't work, but these are the damned Winchesters. Every time they sneeze at the Conclave someone would notice and discuss the implications. They’d been an urban legend of their own among the Lines and Orders so they’d be the focus of a lot of speculation and attention. Atin looked at Dean, wondering what the hell to do.
Dean looked over at Sam. Sam smiled slightly, touching Dean's arm to let him know he had Atin freaked somehow. Sam also felt smug and proud at the same time.
Dean felt bolstered by Sam’s approval and pride. He turned his attention back to Atin, his poker face in place and went for the kill. “All I'm asking is to keep my team together. Do I have to go further up the food chain on this?”
Atin stood up abruptly, “I need to contact Mistress Tudor. I'll be back soon if you want to wait here.”
Dean slumped back into the chair, eyes closed; bravado was gone as soon as Atin left. Sam started to say something but then Jay walked out onto the porch with Thunder, obviously excited about his new familiar and wanting to show him off. He opened the screen door and the collie went bounding out into the yard.
Sam stood to watch the dog with Jay. The herding instinct was strong and Thunder quickly corralled the wayward goats into one of the undamaged pens, tongue lolling. Sam went out to close the gate while Jay laughed and praised the dog. By the time Sam came back in the house, Dean was snoring in the chair.
***
Sam left Jay and Pascal giving Thunder a bath in the downstairs bathroom while he went down to see Vera. He paused in the hallway, looking at the quilt draped over his arm. Sam traced some of the stitching with a blunt finger, remembering how such quilts protected the people sleeping under them. He felt a little guilty, they’d left Vera pretty unprotected. Star started sucking on his earlobe, causing him to shudder. He reached up and caressed her head, causing her to break out in purrs. She was just getting over being left at home and was a little clingier than usual.
After a moment he tapped on the door of Vera’s temporary room and was glad to see LaShonda on duty rather than Mike or Billy Ray. She’d helped a lot with Jay, and he thought her concerned but no nonsense attitude was just right. She smiled up at him as he came into the room, looking tired but alert.
Vera was sleeping, but her color was better and she looked like she was resting well. Shade was sleeping hard herself. He reached out a gentle hand and stroked her ears softly. Starlight clambered down his arm and tumbled onto the bed, snuggling against her.
LaShonda laughed. “That little black cat has been a big help. She wakes us up if Vera needs anything when we doze off. Shade’s taken a lot of stress off us; I don’t think the poor thing has left for more than a half hour since we brought Vera in. Wouldn’t mind having one of these familiars myself.”
“They’re great.” Sam said with a fond smile, looking at Star. His familiar was still very young and spent more time sleeping than Griffin, but he was glad he was getting to watch her grow up.
“Beautiful quilt,” LaShonda said quietly. “Wedding Ring pattern. Where’d you get it?”
“Rattler,” Sam said softly. He was a little surprised to see the nurse tear up a little.
“I prepared his body for burial yesterday, Nora Bonesteel helped. His funeral will be tomorrow afternoon.”
“You did?” Sam asked, shocked.
“Honey,” she explained gently, “we may have messed up here, but we take care of Hunters. We’re not going to let ‘civilians’ take care of one of our own. Some of us are going up to hand dig his grave later today.”
Sam took a deep breath, feeling even guiltier about not providing more supernatural protections for Vera. “I need to put this over her. Help me? I don’t want to pull out any tubes or anything.”
“But why, Sam? It’ll probably get stained.”
He stroked the quilt a moment, thinking how to explain it to someone who didn’t believe in magic, then gave up. “Rattler wanted it.” LaShonda just nodded, accepting the old Guardian’s last request.
Sam smoothed the quilt over Vera as she mumbled a little in her sleep. Rattler had obviously seen something, something so dangerous that the old Guardian was worried about Vera. He wished desperately he had some control over his abilities; what good was all of his supposed power if he couldn’t protect the people he cared about?
**
Jay paused while shoveling horse shit into a flatbed trailer attached to a tractor. He looked up as he wiped his forehead with a wrist in the hot sunlight and noticed a man approaching him. He had an easy stride, black hair flopping into his hazel brown eyes and a lopsided grin. He looked comfortable in a baggy white tee and black shorts.
"Hey," Jay called in greeting.
"Sorry to interrupt your dream." The man’s eyes scanned the area nonstop, not wary but curious. "Wouldn't you rather be riding your horse than cleaning the pasture?"
"No, riding is just part of it. It's about the horses, too."
The man grinned, "You take good care of your friends. Thanks for the ham," he rubbed his stomach, "much better than the kibbled food I was expecting."
"You're welcome," Jay smiled shyly.
"I wish I could have come to be with you sooner, but I'm sure glad I'm here now." An uneasy expression crossed Thunder's face. "There's something coming, I'm not a Seer, don't know what, but it'll be bad."
"There is?" Jay asked confused, then troubled. "I thought so - but with these - people - here, I couldn't be sure."
Thunder nodded energetically. "Trust your instincts. Don't let those others make you doubt yourself." Even as a Dreamtime human Thunder acted like his dog form. He was in constant motion, not hyper but active, looking and touching things, examining the tractor, grass, and trailer as they talked.
Jay watched him a moment, then asked, "Why me? And why now?"
"I know you think the Winchesters are a mixed blessing. You're right.” Thunder grinned again, his head cocked to one side. “They’ll be a great help to you Guardians but they bring lots of baggage. I'm here for when you can't talk to Sam or Dean or even your aunt."
"Blessing?" Jay snorted, "No, more like a curse."
He didn't seem surprised by Jay's revelation. He looked up from his examination of the tractor’s dirt caked tires. "So you see no good from the Winchesters being here?" He looked thoughtful. "Do you want me to convince them to leave? I've already walked in Sam's dreams; I made him come and get me. I can chase them off if you want me to."
"No, it'd only be worse if they leave. I mean, I like them - but, things have just been so screwed up ever since I met them."
"That's life with the Winchesters. Now that you've chosen the life of a Guardian, that's your path from now on." Thunder gave another toothy grin, looking pleased with himself.
Jay sat down on the edge of the flatbed trailer. "Great," he said sarcastically, "I'm not sure I want to be one anymore."
Thunder sat next to him; not touching, giving Jay his space. "No one ever knows what it will be like before they get into it. That's part of the reason I'm here--to help."
"I've been thrown out of school, thrown out of my parents' house, arrested, beat to shit and now I'm a prisoner. I'm scared and falling apart. How can I be a Guardian, even if I still wanted to?" asked Jay plaintively.
His familiar looked impressed. "That's a lot to admit, even in a dream. I knew I made the right choice choosing you."
Jay smiled a little sadly, "You're about the only good thing that's happened in the past few months."
"You can talk to me like this anytime, Jay. Not just in dreams but when you meditate too. Just call me, or whistle. You aren't alone in this Guardian business, there's me and there's the Principality for this area. He was the one who told me about you."
"Principality?" Jay glanced at Thunder confused, he’d heard of Principalities before; he was just trying to remember what they were from his studies on mystical Judaism and Christianity. Then it struck him, they were angels or benevolent spirits that guarded a geographical area.
Thunder nodded, "He calls himself Ravenmocker."
"Sam and Dean talked about him," Jay replied, a little resentful. "Why have they seen him and Aunt Vera and I haven't?" Damn it, he and Aunt Vera were supposed to be Guardians and even the protective spirits were more concerned about Sam and Dean. Didn’t he and his aunt count for anything?
"He's been a little busy saving the Winchester’s bacon; they got some heavy duty enemies in the underworld. He'll be visiting you shortly. Actually," Thunder looked into the distance, "here he comes now. Do you want me to stay or leave?"
"Stay!" Jay was both excited and a little panicked at the thought of seeing a Principality, even though he felt slighted he hadn’t spoken to him before.
Thunder morphed into dog shape and put a paw on Jay's leg.
“Hello Pyrite.” Jay shuddered, and then realized he shouldn’t be surprised Ravenmocker knew his chosen Craft name. It still felt weird to hear someone who was virtually a stranger call him by it. “I am glad to see you and Thunder have finally met.” The Principality smiled gently and Jay wondered what he was so damned happy about.
“Yeah, not too sure about the Guardian part.” Jay couldn’t help but be pissy. If he yelled at the Coms he’d be sedated, Aunt Vera was in no position to listen to him bitch, and he was afraid if he complained to Sam or Dean they might leave him to deal with the Comacines by himself. They’d already booked and left him taking the heat in Chattanooga. Jay knew it wasn’t Sam and Dean’s fault, but still.
Ravenmocker nodded knowingly. “Thunder is correct; no one can know how it really is until they are in that position. I would have been surprised if you did not have any doubts. It would be, in fact, foolhardy to think otherwise. What is your Guardian instinct telling you right now?”
“I'm fucked,” Jay snapped, losing his temper. “And not in a good way.”
“What is the land telling you Jay?” The spirit ignored Jay’s sarcasm.
Ravenmocker’s insistence made Jay stop and reach out with his abilities, what he felt made him shudder hard. “Pockets of it are still out there - the bodies” Jay whispered. “And,” he could feel his face contorting into a frown, “something else - something even worse. I'm scared, because it's coming for...” Jay shook his head, trying to both dispel the feeling of foreboding and sharpen his knowledge of whatever this was. “Sam, Aunt Vera - it's just coming.”
“Yes, it is coming.” The Principality looked over his shoulder, nervous, as if he shouldn’t be there. “The horror is not over yet. There is nothing you can do to stop it from happening. Just use your tools, Pyrite, to see what needs to be done beyond it.”
“NO!” Jay’s feelings of terror coalesced into a scream of denial. “Nonononono! Not again! I can't - why can't I ever do anything!” He slowly slid down the side of the tractor and slumped to the ground, almost in tears. “What's the point in being a Guardian if I can never...” He felt so defeated, so broken, like something had flown apart in his head and chest that he couldn’t put back together again.
A warm, sympathetic hand touched his head and slid down to the back of his neck, massaging gently. “Soon enough.” Ravenmocker’s voice whispered, echoing strangely in the open field. “I wish I could tell you more. Rest for now, I must go.”
Jay allowed himself to burst into tears, feeling Thunder licking his face. This was a dream, damn it, he could cry here if he wanted to.
“Jay! Jay!” His eyes flew open as he felt himself gasping breaths deep into his chest. A mass of brown, curly hair floated above him and he groaned. Great, Elizabeth somehow knew he was upset and he heard Ben’s voice in the room anxiously asking about him. A warm, slick tongue danced across his face as he sat up and gently pushed Thunder away.
“I’m fine.” Jay snapped, wanting everyone out of his room. He wrapped his arms around Thunder’s shoulders and glared at Elizabeth and Ben.
Elizabeth backed away, looking a little uncertain. Ben eased around her, his voice taking on that low, soothing tone Jay hated so much. “Is your back hurting again? Need to talk?”
Jay snarled. Ben would be the last person he would confide in.
“Alright,” Ben shook his head, “hurting? Feeling anxious? Why don’t you take some more of your medications?”
“No.” Jay fumed; he didn’t want any more drugs. “Just leave me alone. Think you can manage that?” He bit everything else he felt like saying, if he wasn’t careful they’d be coming at him with needles again.
He finally convinced them to leave, and the moment they shut the door Jay snatched up a heavy mug off his nightstand and flung it at the closed door. The movement caused his back to spasm and as a result the mug hit the door with a dull thunk then rolled across the floor, denying him the satisfaction of seeing and hearing it shatter.
Jay leaned back onto his bed, Thunder whining and nudging him as he fought off tears, not wanting Elizabeth and Ben to disturb him again. It was pathetic that he couldn’t even manage to break a ceramic mug.
***
Sam sat in the middle of the bed he shared with Dean, the items from Rattler’s place spread out over the bed against the backdrop of the multicolored quilt. He ghosted his hands over them, wondering about the old Guardian's thoughts as he laid these items out for him. Dean was supposed to decide who these bequests went to, but Sam decided he would choose his own.
The large, antique bowie knife didn’t call to him at all. The blade was at least a foot long with what looked like a carved bone handle and it practically screamed ‘Dean’. There were three roses carved out of red cedar and a large horse carved from a deep golden wood. An antique rifle lay on a towel; he didn’t want to risk any gun oil getting onto the quilt. There were a few crystals that looked nothing like the ones in new age stores; they were rough, raw, looking like they’d just been dug out of the earth. There were also other rod-like stones in a deep red, blue and green. Huh, he’d have to ask Jay or Vera about those.
It was another stone that caught his eye, intertwined stones in the shape of a cross so perfect Sam wasn’t sure if it was carved or natural. His hand hovered over the stone, a feeling of soft warmth coming from it. With a smile Sam picked it up. This was for him. He might be the student of a Pagan priestess, but he knew his faith was in the God of his childhood, that he learned from Pastor Jim. He’d seen demons and now he’d seen an angel, albeit a very strange angel. He couldn’t think of any other word to describe Ravenmocker.
As Sam’s fingers closed over the stone he knew that no, it wasn’t carved, this little stone cross was naturally formed. This was how Rattler found it on his ramblings over his land.
Faith was a wonderful thing and was renewed in the strangest ways.
“Dude! There you are.” Dean’s face held a harsh smile but he radiated a bitchy smugness as he leaned against the doorway.
“Morning Captain Narcolepsy, nice of you to join the land of the waking.” Sam was just glad he was smiling, but he wondered what had Dean in such a strange mood.
“Clever Sammy, clever. A college boy and that’s the best you can come up with?” He tisked a moment before getting down to business. “Just talked to Atin and we're all staying together. We’re all going to Hawaii and Will and the Priory are taking over here. They’re going to start coming in tonight.”
Sam paused, not knowing how he felt about this. He was glad they were all staying together, but leaving at all just felt wrong. Jay and Vera’s power was at its strongest here, Ravenmocker watched over them here. He and Dean would travel, they were still Hunters, but damn it, this was home now.
Dean’s smirk faded. “I know Sammy, I know. We gotta make the best of it for now. After Vera gets better, we’re opening a can of ass whuppin’.” He finally noticed all the items scattered in front of Sam on the bed, his eyes almost immediately straying to the bowie knife in its worn leather sheath. “What are these?”
“From Rattler’s. He left a note, said this was for us and our Line. You get to choose who all this goes to.” Sam opened his hand to show what he had chosen. “I’m taking this.”
A look of recognition and a ghost of a smile flitted across his face. “A fairy cross.”
“What? Dude, what’d you call it?”
“A fairy cross. Don’t tell me I know something your geeky brain doesn’t. They’re found up here, valued as a protective talisman. Both the Wyler cousins have them.”
“Oh.” Sam paused a moment, Dean was growing, changing in so many ways it was almost hard to keep up with him. He kind of liked it, though; it was almost like Dean was finding his own depth, his niche in the scheme of things. They were both going through some fucked up growing pains, though.
Dean’s hand went to the bowie knife, just like Sam knew it would. It was good to know some things would never change; Dean would always go for the largest surrogate penis he could find. After holding the knife for a moment, Dean set it down on the bedside table and reached for one of the roses and inhaled its fresh cedar scent.
“I think he was carving this the day I met him.” Dean’s voice was a low rumble, Sam nodded, understanding.
“He knew he was going to die Dean. He may have even known then.” His brother looked up at him sharply then twirled the rose in his hand by the stem.
“Then this one is for Vera.”
Sam smiled. “Rattler wanted her to have a quilt: I’ve already taken it down to her.” Sam shuddered uncontrollably. “His note said she needed it.”
Dean’s expression sharpened, his brows drawing down over his eyes and Sam knew he’d just snapped into his Hunter role. No matter what else Dean may be or might become, he was a Hunter and protector to the marrow of his bones. If Vera was in danger, then they all were, and Dean had just decided to become very, very dangerous.
***
Water stained plaster. Not a pretty sight. Vera tried to roll her eyes around, to see the room around her. She heard Shade chirp and then meow pitifully as her black head suddenly popped into view. Her face was assaulted by a raspy cat tongue and when she opened her mouth to protest Shade started licking the roof of her mouth.
“Bleagh! Shade!” Vera might let her familiar eat off her plate, but this was a little too much even for her.
“Damned cat,” she heard a voice grumble nearby.
That accent, she knew it. “Alabama,” she said aloud, not realizing she was speaking. She felt a wave of generalized annoyance and then a vaguely familiar male face appeared above her, pale skin, broad cheeks and freckles. Whoever he was, he wasn’t happy to be here. This man was actually afraid and afraid of her. Considering she was flat on her back and couldn’t move this was confusing to say the least.
“Let me take care of her.” The voice was firm and rich, the man’s presence was soothing and Vera sighed under his influence. Another face appeared above her, this one dark and warm, somehow making her think of cinnamon. His hand cupped her forehead.
“Remember me?” Vera was startled to hear Shade trill at the man.
“No, not really.” She blinked a few times, trying to remember. She knew she was hurt, the Circle, and Dean and Sam and Jay…but that couldn’t be right. Sam wasn’t hurt the last time she remembered seeing him. Today, yesterday, now and tomorrow all seemed tumbled together somehow and she couldn’t straighten it all out.
The man nodded, as if he wasn’t surprised. “My name is Atin, and you’re at home.” Atin went on to give her a brief and edited version of what happened after she was injured, repeating things he knew she’d already been told. Vera was relieved, glad to have all the good news of everyone being alive and recovering confirmed for her again.
Atin’s hands gently cradled her head, thumbs softly rubbing her temples. “You’re going to be just fine.” His voice was soft with promise. “We’ll be able to take off the neck brace soon and you can move a little. You’ll be up and around in no time.”
Vera struggled to keep her eyes open. “I don’t want to go back to sleep,” she mumbled.
He laughed. “You might as well, you can’t move and we both know how bored and grumpy you’ll get if you stay awake. Your boys are fine; the farm is taken care of, and that article about the historic documents you found can wait.”
She was drifting off again, but this time wrapped in a warm, soft blanket and she wasn’t alone. Vera knew that Atin was somehow in there with her. As she slid under, she wondered how he knew about the article.
***
Thus the army is established by deceit, moves for advantage, and changes through segmenting and reuniting. Thus its speed is like the wind, its slowness is like the forest; its invasions and plundering like fire; unmoving, it is like the mountains. It is as difficult to know as the darkness; in movement it is like thunder.
Dean traced his hand over the text. Established by deceit; changes through segmenting and uniting. His ‘army’ consisted of six people; Joe LeDonne, Maryanne and Ruby Wyler, Vera, Jay and Sam. Vera was injured and Jay had to stay with her. Sammy’s abilities were out of control. His most powerful psychics were out of action. Joe was an experienced soldier and cop, but was just learning about the supernatural. Ruby and Maryanne were natural hell raisers and didn’t have any experience, but they knew the area and their family was certainly an ally.
Segmenting and reuniting. His crew was getting split up; Joe, Ruby and Maryanne weren’t strong psychics and it was obvious that the Comacines thought they were beneath their notice. Big mistake, he and Sam were both dangerous by the time they were 10.
Once the Coms had them in Hawaii they would be cut off. Small island, it would be easy to control their access to the outside world. They seemed to be positively drooling over the prospect of having Jay under their control; who’s to say they’d really let any of them go to this Conclave to get recognized?
One thing was clear; somebody had to be there to speak for them.
Dean wrestled with the thought, but after a few moments he had to admit what their best chance was.
He had to send Sammy away to the Priory. College boy was pre-law and he was already studying these Orders legal system. He had to stay with Jay and Vera; they’d both be too vulnerable without him.
Besides, he didn’t like the idea of the Comacines training Sam anyways. Like Cheryl said, they were afraid of Jay and Vera, they could do things the Coms had never heard of. He’d heard Jay and the Comacines tying to talk about magic and psychic abilities, and it was like they were speaking two different languages. A lot of the members of the Priory had been trained by Vera, so they could teach Sammy close to the same way she would.
Damn these sons of bitches, he was just now getting his brother back from losing his mind to his abilities, and now they had to split up. Dean took a deep breath and closed the book. Joe, Ruby and Maryanne would be here to hold down the fort, he would go with Vera and Jay to Hawaii, and Sam would go to the Priory, beyond the Comacines’ control. Then they’d all come back together at this Conclave. Segmenting and reuniting.
Only problem was how in the hell was he going to keep his plans secret in a house full of psychics?
***
A notebook hit the wall with a satisfying thwack and Thunder whined. Jay took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and hugged his familiar. He’d done both a Tarot and an I Ching reading and he didn’t like what either one said.
Jay had a little seer ability, not enough to have full blown visions like Sam or Pascal. He mainly just had hunches. Supplementing the little ability he had with magic, like using Tarot and other divination tools strengthened his ability.
The I Ching hexagram he’d built had two changing lines. The base hexagram was Childhood, alternating to Keeping Still. Childhood indicated that he should be ‘willing to accept education’ and in a period of change and growth that was inevitable. He was supposed to be ‘humble’ to his teacher. Great.
Keeping Still was almost worse. Be quiet, be still, mediate, time isn’t good for movement.
Basically he was just supposed to suck it up and wait for things to change.
It was the Tarot reading that almost had him in tears again. His significator or the card representing him was the Page of Swords: vigilance, spying, secret service. Well, he was a sneaky little bastard; even he had to admit that. What crossed him was the Hanged Man; even better. He was suspended right now between two major periods of his life in a kind of limbo. One had ended but the other really hadn’t begun yet. Just had to wait it out, it echoed what the Keeping Still hexagram told him. Past; Nine of Swords, worry and insomnia. Present; the Wheel of Fortune, something preordained, karma. This just kept getting better and better.
The next card chilled him; The Tower. Sudden and unforeseen tragedy and adversity. How could things get any worse?
Rest of the reading was just annoying. Five of Cups; basically quit whining, things were better then he thought. Queen of Swords, a widow, a barren woman who knew deep sorrow. In his deck, the Art Nouveau Tarot, it showed a woman clasping a sword blade, her blood flowing down it. Aunt Vera, but close to her was Strength; courage, inner strength and leadership. It was also a hidden or potential strength, like the power of a tiny acorn to become a powerful oak.
What the hell? Two of Cups, a successful marriage or joining, a merger between two things, making them more powerful. Whatever. Jay didn’t see how that made any sense in the current situation.
Final result cards were Justice and Death. The Death card didn’t upset Jay, but rather made him thoughtful. It was the card of new beginnings, the death of the old and the birth of the new, which fit in with The Hanged Man card. It was also the card of rebirth and Initiation, the great Mysteries. Justice represented vindication, acclaim in a court of law. Jay wondered about that one, too. Did it have to do with the Coms getting his charges dismissed?
Jay had just silently thanked the Gods and was putting his deck reverently away when there was a tap on his door.
“Go the fuck away!” he yelled at the door, not wanting to be checked on, fussed over, offered a massage or talked into taking more pain killers, muscle relaxers or anti-anxiety medications. He knew it wasn't Pascal either, since Atin had sent him off to the store.
The door opened despite his warning. Thunder's ears were pricked forward; he obviously knew who was coming in and was relaxed. It couldn't be a Comacine or Sam; Thunder was tense whenever Sam came near him for some reason. He would have to ask him about that the next time he meditated.
Dean came in and closed the door behind him. Before Jay could speak, Dean started talking in a low and urgent voice. “Dude, this invisibility thing you do, can you teach Sam how to do it and can you do it for somebody else?”
Chapter 26: Something...