Strange Angels -- Chapter Seven: Don't Turn Your Back (Part Two)
Chapter Seven: Don't Turn Your Back
This is set sometime after the end of Season 1. While it doesn't break canon to my knowledge, it is definitely AU. The Winchesters have made it to Madison, GA - a small town plagued by gargoyles. The boys decide that Charlie's going on her first stakeout, but Dean's the one who is going to get the biggest surprise.
Disclaimer: The Winchester boys aren't mine. The Colt isn't mine. Wish the car was mine. But I can only blame myself for the Circle of Enoch.
Word Count: 10375
Pairings (Overall): Dean/OFCs (HET)
Rating (Overall): PG - R (This chapter: PG-13 - Mild sexual situation. Dean likes to swear.)
Feedback: Absolutely!
Summary: Visions suck more than just rocks.
Miscellaneous: As always, this would not have been possible without the brilliance of JMM0001 who rightly called me on every loose point and OOC action - pulling an otherwise coherent plot out of this week's very dizzy brain. (Having not learned my lesson about writing when sick.) Much thanks to wenchpixie, who listens to my meta conversations and for putting the Charlie back into Charlotte Webb. (See comment about dizzy brain.) Both acted as my betas for this chapter. As always, the good parts are because of them. The bad parts are all me. I also owe a debt to pheebs1 who held my hand and listened to my proposed plot changes entirely too early for someone like me to be thinking properly.
Story Links: Strange Angels / Beneath the Hollow
Note: Stories listed in chronological order.
Chapter Links: Prologue / One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / Seven / Eight / Nine / Ten / Eleven / Twelve / Epilogue
Arlene's voice brought Dean back to himself, harsh and unyielding in the corners of his head. "Oh, God! Oh, God!" If words could scratch, his skin would be covered with tiny lacerations. The waitress whimpered. "Oh, God!"
"What happened?" Sam's voice. His little brother was edgy, and Dean could feel the horror running through him - whatever the hell Sam had seen, it wasn't good.
"Wha - " Dean tried to sit up, and it was like something picked up his brain and shook it in his skull. Darkness against his eyes, and he fell backwards against the pavement again. Only the pavement was soft. And it smelled like strawberries. What happened? What the fuck do you think happened, Sammy? I'm laying here flat on my ass from a goddamn vision.
Strawberries.
Fuck me.
Dean tried to roll to his side, but Charlie wouldn't let him - kept one hand firmly on his chest. His head hurt too goddamn much to fight her anyway, and her fingers on his forehead were cool - stroking away the worst of his migraine with each pass. He wondered if this was how she and Sam always felt. After. Visions sucked giant green donkey dicks. And what the fuck does it mean that two of us have a vision in the same day?
Dean could sense how anxious Charlie was, and her hand trembled on his forehead. When he closed his eyes briefly, Dean saw why; she was holding him within the gossamer edges of whatever she used to protect herself. Protecting him. When it should be the other way around.
He snorted, opening his eyes. Charlie looked down at him, but she never stopped moving her hand. It's worse when I physically touch them. Dean tried to push her hand away, but she frowned and deliberately put her hand back. Stubborn bitch. You'd think she was a freaking Winchester. But then Charlie smiled at him, her soothing fingers brushing against his forehead. The pain throbbed less when she touched him. Dean didn't want to fight her. The splitting ache in his skull hurt too much.
"Please." Sam's voice was soft, and he placed his hand on Arlene's right shoulder. "He's my brother. I need to know."
Arlene sobbed. "It was my break, and we came here and, oh, God! He fell, and he screamed. And he started glowing. Blue! On his arms at first. Those monsters attacked me!" She took a sucking breath. "And then you people showed up, and her hands were blue! What is he? What are you people?" Anger was in her voice, undercutting the fear. "Don't fucking come any closer! I have mace!"
"Gargoyles?" Sam asked, still inching towards the waitress. "Did you see gargoyles?"
"Are you a fucking lunatic?" Arlene snapped. "There's no such thing as..." Her voice choked in her throat, and she hiccupped. Sam pulled her into the crook of his arm, offering comfort. Murmuring in that soft voice that Sam always used to soothe those they helped.
"Whatever is here, it's not gargoyles." Charlie leaned down to whisper at Dean. "Sam doesn't know what they were." Her hand stopped moving, but she kept it on his forehead all the same. "Every one he killed ending up disintegrating, so we don't even have anything to study." Her gray eyes were serious. "I think they're coming back. The gun just scared them."
"You can sense - " Dean swallowed. Even the inside of his throat hurt. He grabbed onto Charlie's arm and pulled himself up into a sitting position. "Monsters?"
"Strong emotion," Charlie countered, dropping her hand from his forehead. "Doesn't matter what it comes from." Her face was ashen. He guessed she'd been sharing the pain. Hell, the way she winced when Arlene let out a wail, bawling on his little brother's shoulder, Charlie might have just taken it from him.
Dean grunted. "Open curtains."
Her entire face scrunched up like it always did when Charlie was about to say something she didn't want to say. "I'm sorry, Dean."
"For what?" Dean began to turn his head, appraising the alley. "You come up and knock me in the back of the head with a psychic baseball bat?" His voice was rough.
"I should have warned you about what visions are like, what they can do. How they can make you feel afterwards." She grimaced. "I - " Charlie swallowed. "I thought I had time. I didn't expect you to have one so soon. The same day I did." Charlie was worried about that, too. There's our Girl Genius. "And it's my fault you're totally unprepared for this," she added.
"Your fault?" Dean snorted. "You've known me for less than two weeks!" There was a chittering sound in the distance. "They're getting closer, aren't they?" Dean didn't even have to ask - he felt rage spear through him, barely tempered by the gossamer cocoon around them. He wondered if that's how Charlie felt all the time - normal, until something jagged scratched its way into her. Like that woman. "Can you help me stand?" Time to stop talking - Dean Winchester had work to do. Monsters were coming.
"Sure." Charlie brought herself to a stand, braced on a crutch. "But what if we both end up falling down?"
"Wouldn't be the first time one of us was on top of the other," he drawled, grinning at her. Dean glanced over at Sam. He was still comforting the waitress. Dean rolled onto his knees slowly, holding out a hand for Charlie to help brace him with as he rose gradually to his feet. He wobbled, and he had a mild headache, but otherwise he felt normal. Well, as normal as someone who just got smacked down by a goddamn vision from God. Or wherever the hell they came from. He was fucking Called and he was freaking Chosen. "Sammy!" Dean called. "Incoming."
"You shouldn't be up, Dean!" His little brother frowned, arm still around the waitress. "What the hell are you doing letting him up, Charlotte?"
"Keep your pants on, little brother. We don't have much choice. You think you can take all the little bastards on by yourself?" Dean smiled at Charlie to soften what he said next. "You want Charlie to wade in and start whacking with her crutches?"
"Good point." Sam pushed the waitress away gently. "Are you going to be okay, Arlene?"
The blonde woman nodded. "Yeah. I think so."
Dean shared a glance with Sam, saw his little brother look pointedly at Charlotte Webb. "Charlotte," Sam said, "You need to take Arlene and go. Neither of you should be here when those things come back."
"I can do that," Charlie replied, giving Arlene a look. "Why don't you come with me, Arlene?" She smiled at the waitress. And Dean saw it. The cocoon expanding, one small wisp reaching out to brush against the waitress as Charlie smiled. Arlene returned the smile, warily at first. And I can pull open the curtains when I need to, but that requires me to touch people. Charlie glanced at Sam. "Keep yourself safe, Sam," Charlie said. But Charlie was still worried when she looked at Dean, hadn't quite closed herself off the way she normally did.
"Take my phone." Sam's eyes widened as Dean handed Charlie his cell. "And take a cab from the bar. Once you get back to the motel, you keep the doors locked. If you even sense that asshole nearby, Sam's the first speed dial. And I want you to keep the spare gun in the dresser with you." Dean frowned. "You got all that, Charlie?" he asked.
Charlie's eyes flashed underneath a nearby light, but then her body relaxed. She put the phone into the small purse she had slung over her shoulder. "You stay safe, too, Dean. Don't - " Charlie's face crumpled. "We still need to talk."
"Damn right we do, Girl Genius, but I've got to work now." Dean smiled softly at her. And the look on her face - Charlie knew. Hell, Charlotte Webb had told him what he was in the back of his car, when all Dean could think about was fucking her. But this was what he was born to do, who he was born to become. If anyone understood that, it was the girl who could drop inside of someone and calm their nightmares. Who took someone else's pain inside of herself.
"You need to learn - " Charlie started, but stopped when their eyes met.
"I know, Charlie. And you're going to teach me. But I have to go." And he did. Dean's hands itched. There were monsters coming to Madison, and the Winchesters were taking them out. It was what he was born to do. He glanced at his little brother. What we are both supposed to do.
Sam did another double-take, coughing. "If the phone rings, answer it," Sam added. "It might be us."
The chirping noise was closer now, humming through the air around the church. Charlie was walking towards the waitress on her crutches, voice low as Arlene began to whimper again. One of the creatures came into view - bastard looked like a gargoyle's ugly cousin. Dean felt anger uncoil from inside of himself, and Charlie's head turned sharply towards him - gray eyes narrowing as she put her arm around Arlene.
He was unraveling inside with need, the need to protect someone. Just like he always protected Sammy, ever since the day he'd carried his baby brother out of a burning house. And Dean had the same need on jobs, when there was an innocent to be saved and that was more important than anything - his life, his revenge. It was worse when kids were involved, the one thing he could never deny. He'd even felt it once with Charlie, when he saw her laying on the ground at the bottom of a stairwell. But this feeling was different. Bigger. It wasn't just a job. It wasn't vengeance. People just needed to be saved.
You are Called and you are Chosen.
Dean Winchester was a freaking Warrior of God. This was what he was born to do. Monsters might walk its roads, but this world didn't belong to them.
"I think they're congregating near the church," Sam said. His eyes had gone round, and the look he gave Dean was faintly ill. "Are you sure you're okay, Dean?"
Dean shook his head. "Got no choice, Sammy. We've got to save this town." He sighed. "And then I need to talk to Charlie about that vision." Dean swallowed. "I need to know if it was real."
"What?" Sam looked at him dubiously.
"I saw a little girl. Like one of us." Dean felt his throat catch, hoped like hell Sam didn't pick up on it. She was so tiny. "And something was hurting her, Sammy." Dean couldn't even bring himself to tell Sam what he felt as those knives sliced that little girl's flesh, and he bit back a dry heave. Dear God, please don't let it be true.
"Beata?" Sam breathed the question. "You know where she is?"
"I don't even know if it's real, little brother. But if I did, we wouldn't be standing here talking. Or thinking about those flying freaks." Dean opened the trunk to the Impala, pulled out two flare guns and handed one to his little brother. Pulled out some extra flares. "Sooner we kill those ugly bastards, sooner we talk to Charlie. And if we're lucky, they'll lead us to a nest." If they even have a freaking nest.
"Can't follow on foot," Sam said. "They fly too fast."
"Hopefully a swarm that big will be visible from the road," Dean replied. "Close to a full moon, so there's enough light to see them by. Not too cloudy." Sam was looking at him with a grim expression on his face. "I've always wanted to try off-roading in the 'Pala," Dean added. He slammed the trunk closed.
Sam shook his head. "You're one crazy bastard."
"Just hope I don't get knocked unconscious by a vision while I'm driving." He opened the door and slid behind the steering wheel. Sam just stared at him for a couple of seconds, then shrugged his shoulders. Dean leaned over to unlock the passenger door before Sam could pull his little trick. Sam joined him in the front seat, glanced at him furtively before slamming his own door shut. Dean sighed. "What, Sam?"
"It's just - " His little brother frowned. "I've seen that expression before. It's not good."
"What expression?" It was Dean's turn to frown.
"Just promise me you'll take care of yourself tonight," Sammy returned. He set the flare gun in his lap, settling his arms around himself. His little brother looked so empty, leaning suddenly against the cold window with his sunken eyes, Dean couldn't do anything but swallow fiercely. "I can't lose you, Dean," Sam added. His voice cracked, and there was a shimmer of blue along his cheekbone.
Dean kept his eyes on the road, pointing the Impala towards the church. Knuckles white on the steering wheel. He hoped Sam wouldn't notice. He slowed down the car when the church was in view and dared to look at Sam. His little brother looked tired, but fully alert - loading a flare into the gun he was holding. "We're going to have to do this quick, Sammy," Dean said. "Think you can hike up the window?"
"Think you can drive this piece of crap once all hell breaks loose?" Sam retorted. Smartass.
Dean grinned suddenly. "Let's do this, Geek Boy."
Sam nodded, already opening his window and sliding out to rest his bony ass on the door. He had a second flare in his hand, ready to reload once the first shot was fired. Dean rolled down his own window, peered up at the bell tower of the church. What looked like hundreds of those flying freaks were swirling around the tower, gibbering and shrieking against the night sky. "Ready, Sammy?" Why the hell didn't the town notice a group of - things - like that every night for the past week? Fucking gargoyles?
"Game on," his little brother said, and a flare burst into the swarm.
They burned easily, exploding into shadows with each flare that hit them. Bodies didn't drop to the ground - when they exploded, they took others with them. Screams increased, and several lights turned on along the street - on top of the stores where people probably lived. Shit. Dean was running out of flares, and Sam slid back into the car with a frown.
Suddenly there was the bang of a shotgun, the bullet whizzing past the Impala, and the flying freakazoids swooped past and began flying away.
Dean didn't need to be told twice. He pressed his foot down on the gas pedal, and sped down Madison's main drag after the shrieking mass in the sky. The creatures swooped angrily, some even attempting to dive bomb the car - exploding into flickers of fire against the windshield as they died. The barreled out of town as the swarm veered past and turned into some farmland.
Fuck.
He twisted the steering wheel, pulling the Impala off the road and into a field. Gunning the engine, his baby roared into action - spitting dirt behind her as they gave chase. Those goddamn flying fuckers weren't getting away without a fight. The entire dashboard was infused with a blue glow.
"Holy shit!" Sam was staring at him with eyes gone round. "Dean..." It was him. Dean was shining like a motherfucking glowstick. Got to work. Don't have time to scream. Sammy's hands were braced on the dashboard, sigils cropping with the same blue glow across his wrists.
"You hanging in there, Sammy?" Dean's voice seemed to fill the entire car. Knuckles still hard around the steering wheel, eyes not even needing to focus on the things soaring above and around them. He could feel their hate, their anger. And what Dean could sense, he could track - the first use of his chick flick gift that didn't blow chunks.
Sam actually chuckled. "Yeah. Just trying to do those crap exercises Charlotte taught me, and your driving sucks."
"Bite me."
"You wish, Dean." The symbols on his hands were fading.
Another creature shrieked and swooped down into the dashboard, sparking across the window. Dean just kept right on driving, while Sam's eyes got a little white around the edges. A stone wall appeared before them, topped with barbed wire and jagged edges. Dean slammed his foot on the brakes, and swerved the car so that it was running parallel to the wall. Sam bit off a scream. The creatures were still flying around somewhere past the fricking wall.
"Fuckers just tried to kill us!" Dean roared. The anger was flying towards them again, swerving past them and back out into more farmland. "Damn it!" Dean grit his teeth and turned the Impala to hound the swarm. Those little bastards weren't going to get away now. "Hang on, Sammy!" And he gunned the engine, the Impala roaring past the wall and back into the fields.
They were good - Dean would give them that much. But they were getting careless - more of them flying into the Impala. Like that would slow my baby down. He didn't know how long they'd been on the chase; they moved, the 'Pala moved with them. So long as Dean could feel them, Dean could track them. Even Sam was getting into it, grinning like a lunatic each time Dean turned the wheel, or started running parallel to walls whenever the ugly bastards thought Dean was slowing down.
When the last one dive-bombed the car, Dean had no idea where they were and he had nothing left to follow. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Dean slammed his hand onto the steering wheel. Those goddamn monsters had led them to a road in the middle of nowhere.
"Oh, shit," Sam whispered. He pointed towards a sign on Dean's left. A highway sign. "Madison, three miles," Sam added. "They led us right back where we came from."
"So what now?" Dean's breath came out as a hiss. "What the fuck do we do now? Gear up for round two tomorrow night?" He shook his head. "Hell, no. I'm talking to Charlie and we're going after the girl."
"That bad?" Sam shook his head.
"Sam!" The urgency filled him, the need to protect battered into the back of his skull. "If she's real, I have to save her."
"I know, man. I know."
"You don't understand, Sammy. This little girl - in the vision, she's being eaten alive." He swallowed. "The fucker is cutting her to pieces!" If Dean weren't so pissed, he'd be throwing up with the memory. And the knives slice into her flesh, quivering still on its forks as Death feeds.
Sam's eyes were shiny when he turned to look at Dean. "And you can feel it, right?" It was his little brother's turn to swallow. "Being an empath must suck out loud. At least I just see the things that happen. I don't feel it."
"Yeah." Dean's voice was hard. "I can."
"The one thing I know is that we're sent visions to prevent something from happening, Dean. I read that in the journals that Charlotte gave me." He frowned as Dean pulled the car onto the road back into town. "But the visions don't run on the same time-table we do. Charlotte told me she had a vision once fifteen years ago, and it hasn't happened yet," his little brother added.
"This blows chunks, Sam. I don't even know what's real anymore." Dean let out a sigh. "That girl sure complicated things with her stupid plan to give you a freaking book bag and a glowing sword."
"This would have happened to us regardless, Dean. It's how we're made."
"It pisses me off that she was right, though." Dean knew it wasn't fair. The way he felt when they were on the chase, the way he used his Gift to track monsters so angry they left a trail for him in the sky. He believed it now. He was born to this life. Men and women who fight like you and Sam. Helping them fulfill their sacred purpose, protecting humanity from curses and monsters that we were never meant to see. "That I'm a fucking Warrior of God," Dean added.
"Wouldn't it be easier for you if it was?" Sam snorted.
"Cute, Sammy."
"Just pointing out the obvious." His little brother's voice was soft, and Dean saw him close his eyes - lower his head like he was seeing something in his geek brain that Sammy didn't want to see.
"I'm so wired I'm never going to be able to sleep."
"You could call Arlene," Sam replied, his voice a little short. What's with the attitude, little brother?
"Or we could go back to the motel and check in with Charlie," Dean replied, glancing at Sam as they drove. He turned on the radio - "Stairway to Heaven" was playing, and damn if Dean couldn't hear Charlie's little off-key warble in the back of the Impala. "Charlie really can't sing."
"How do we ask her to stop?" Sam was looking out the window.
"We don't, Sammy. Girl likes to sing; she just can't. You talk all the time, and half the crap you say is full of shit." Dean grinned. "I can't make you stop talking. Trust me, dude, I've tried. You stop talking so much, and then I'll ask Charlie not to sing."
"Screw you." But his little brother was laughing. "You know what I think, Dean?"
"Nope." Dean snorted, looked out the window - hoping to catch another glimpse of the swarm, but the sky was clear. Just a big, nearly full moon. "But I'm guessing you're going to tell me," Dean added.
"I think you're just as glad she stayed as I am. Even if she did complicate our lives with a book bag and a glowing sword."
"And I think you've got a few screws loose, Sammy, but you don't see me bringing that up as a theory for your fucked-up personality." He shook his head. How could Dean tell his little brother that he felt their mother die and that a goddamn redhead was the only person in the world who knew; and that as fucked up as the whole thing was, it was good to know that someone understood what that felt like. That his nightmares didn't just stem from being crazy deep down inside. Dean shrugged his shoulders. "Once you get past all that end of the world crap, she's a nice girl."
"That's my point," Sam returned, looking out the window. "She is a nice girl."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Jesus Christ! Warning received loud and clear, Francis."
"Fuck you, Dean." Sam was holding himself again, and Dean saw another flicker of blue glint in his little brother's eyes. "I just don't want to see my friend get hurt."
"And when have I ever been interested in nice girls?" Dean retorted. "She's here because I don't want my little brother to become the thing that destroys the world." Sam's body jerked as though Dean had smacked him, hard against the chest. Dean frowned, a warm ache blazing in his chest. Damn, Sammy. "I - " He took a deep breath. "I can't lose you, either, Sam." You and me and Dad-I mean, I want us... I want us to be together again. I want us to be a family again.
Sam didn't say anything until they were walking up the stairs to the motel room. "What if we lose?" Dean's throat ached when Sammy said it - his little brother looked so much like he used to when he said it, before Shemhezai started taking over the neighborhood. "You don't know how bad that thing wants out of me, Dean."
"You're not that thing, Sam. You're my geeky little brother, and I'll kick your ass if you ever forget that." It was the only thing Dean could think to say as he pulled the cardkey out of his pocket. "I might just kick your ass on general principle because this conversation is starting to piss me off."
"Doofus." But Sam was grinning.
"Asshole," Dean returned, sliding the key and opening the door.
The room was brightly lit - it was almost midnight, but Charlie was sitting on the farthest bed with a laptop balanced on her knees and several of her own research books scattered around her. She was ready for bed, wearing new red-striped pajamas they bought to replace her old blue ones. Dean had wanted to get her a set with yellow ducks but Charlie had her limits; even had Sam smack him on the arm for her when Dean mentioned them a second time. She kept typing, but a shiver went through her shoulders. "Hey," she said, looking up at them suddenly. "Any luck?"
"No." Dean really didn't want to talk about it - and he felt damn guilty about that little shiver. He had probably just ripped Charlie wide open. Good thing for him that she didn't mention it in front of Sam. "You?" Dean asked.
"I think so," Charlie answered. "Arlene's brother is one of the good old boys from the article. Said she would ask him to meet us for breakfast at the diner around 9:00 or so. He might know more about the creatures." But she looked doubtful.
"Score one for Research Girl," Sam chuckled. He took off his jacket, and headed off towards the bathroom.
"Score two for Charlotte," she returned. She gestured for Dean to join her on the bed, which would have shocked the hell out of him any other day but this one. Charlie was already turning her laptop around as he slid next to her, and the ugly mug of one of those flying motherfuckers greeted him from the screen. "I found some references in books, too. I was just getting ready to cross-check them."
"Where did you learn to become such a research geek?" Dean asked lightly. Charlie gave him an arch look, and then started chewing her thumbnail again as she stared at the bathroom door. He sighed. "Tonight really sucked, Charlie. I couldn't even find a goddamn nest. How am I supposed to save a little girl I saw in a vision?" Her head whipped around to look at him, taking in what he said - gray eyes wide. How's that for dropping the shoe, Girl Genius?
"Do you remember any details from the vision?" she asked. Her fingers actually twitched above the keyboard, like Charlie was getting ready to start researching based on anything he could give her. Dean almost smiled at that.
"Beyond feeling what it's like to be eaten alive, no."
"Oh, God." Charlie looked like she was going to throw up, and then blinked. Once. "Did it feel real to you?" She frowned. "Of course it felt real to you. Don't be an idiot, Charlotte." Her eyes widened again. "Is that the vision you had when you collapsed?"
"Anyone ever tell you that there's a hole in your head the size of Texas?"
"It could be important, Dean. Those things attacked you once your vision started. You actually called the Ziv Zakai and they were drawn to it. That's enough proof for me that you were being Called." Charlie had tears standing in her eyes when she looked at him. "I just wish you remembered more, so we would know where to start."
"I'll take notes next time, Girl Genius." Dean did a double-take. "And did you just say we?"
Charlie nodded. He was going to say something more but there was a yelp from the bathroom, followed by a groaning sound from Sam. The door whipped open, and Sam entered - wrapped in nothing but a towel. His little brother immediately grabbed his duffel bag, glaring at Charlie. "That wasn't funny, Charlotte! The gloves are off!" Sammy gave her another pissed off look and stalked back into the bathroom.
"What the fuck was that about?" Dean had to ask.
She coughed, lowering her eyes. "I did some other research tonight, too," Charlie said, opening up another web browser on her laptop. Dean just stared at her dumbly. "I found a website for duct tape practical jokes," Charlie added, pointing towards one line. He leaned towards her to get a better look.
"Condiment commode," Dean read out loud. It was a pretty good gag, and Charlie knew where they kept the duct tape. Dean swallowed. "You did that to the toilet?" His eyes widened. "What if I had gone in before Sam? My ass would be covered in ketchup!"
"This is war, Dean." She grinned at him. "Casualties are expected." Her mouth twisted. "And it was honey mustard barbecue sauce."
Dean returned her grin. That damn mischievous look was infectious. "Score three for the Cowgirl," he said, laughing as Charlie registered the words. He still couldn't get that little girl out of his head. But Dean Winchester would pick right back up fighting, because that's what Winchesters did. Because sometimes, when the job went south, the only thing to do was laugh. Laugh until it hurt. And then get back to work.
"I warned you, Dean." Charlie wasn't exactly pulling off the solemn look, though.
"Bring that fiendishly clever revenge, sweetheart." Dean snorted. "But you're not good enough to take both Sammy and I on - even with that handy roll of duct tape you stole from Sam's bag." The startled look on her face only made him laugh harder.
And then Charlie poked him in the arm; she was laughing, too.
Move on to Chapter Eight - Lost Like This.
A/N:
Not even sure where to begin on this one…
I got down with my fangirly self. I even mentioned The Surf Ninjas - a silly movie, with some of my fondest memories of friends. This was full of movie references, actually - The Godfather comes to mind. Not to mention good old Pirates of the Caribbean, Amelie and the big daddy of monsters himself: Godzilla. Yes, Gojira is the unedited for American audiences version of the original film. And Ishiro Honda, its director, did work with Akira Kurosawa.
My inner otaku came out to play for awhile, too. Akira is an anime based on the manga title of the same name. (My advice, read the manga; the movie is beautifully animated, but barely scratches the surface of the story.) Testsuo is a character who starts going insane when his psychic powers manifest. Seemed appropriate, given how Dean is always referring to Sam as a psychic. And I would suspect Teen!Dean would have been all over Akira.
Girl Genius, apart from being Charlie's nickname, is a fabulous online comic by Phil Foglio. Those who follow By Gaslight may be particularly interested, as its undeniably steampunk. (Hey, don't shoot me for pimping my other fic.) Since Dean uses it so much, I felt the need to shout-out and give credit where it's due.
And for the curious, there really is a website for duct tape practical jokes. The research I do for this fandom. ;-P
I would, sad to say, be horribly remiss by not crediting the existence of giant green you-know-whats to the lovely BSFFAs I hung out with in college. Bear in mind that was back in 1988...
The title is a song by Blue Oyster Cult.
As for the rest, you know the drill: Criticism always welcome. (In fact, I encourage it!) And comments are the things that make my dizzy brain happy.