Demon Game 08/10: Supernatural AU
Title: Demon Game
Author: yami_faerie
Words: ~4,000
Ratings/Warnings: Rated PG-13, or R if you're offended by the "f" word, language, some violence, spoilers for seasons 1-5.
Disclaimer: This isn't my world. I just like to imagine it is.
Summary: It's finally time for Sam to join the competition in Cold Oak, South Dakota. Will Dean and Bobby be able to find Sam and the other special children with him before it's too late? This is a retelling of 2.21 and 2.22 "All Hell Breaks Loose" and features my OFC Danielle Young.
Chapter Eight: Twisted Every Way
April 27, 2007
Pain. It almost bordered on complete agony, and Sam wasn't sure how he was supposed to work through it. He wasn't even sure why he hurt so badly.
His lower back felt like it was on fire, almost white-hot, and his head, well… Sam had suffered a few headaches almost debilitating enough to be considered migraines, but this one blew them all out of the water.
Why was he in so much pain?
It took several minutes to force himself into a sitting position, slumped against what felt like a metal headboard as he clutched at his head, breathing hard. Where was he? What the hell was going on?
Several more minutes later, Sam was able to crack his eyes open. He was alone in a room that looked old and abandoned. What was he doing in a place like this?
"Cold Oak, South Dakota. All the residents fled because they swore the town was haunted."
"But there's nothing here."
Oh. Right. Cold Oak, the location of Azazel's game, where Danielle had…
Sam stopped that train of thought for the moment, instead noticing that the pain in his lower back had faded to a raging throb. He forced himself to his feet and made his way over to an old, full-length mirror, determined to figure out why his back hurt so damn much.
It took a few tries to raise his shirt, due to the continued pain and an unpleasant clenching in his muscles that felt like they were strung too tightly to move properly, but eventually he was able to accomplish what should have been a menial task.
What he saw made him gasp.
The scar tissue was a little under two inches in width (just like that knife, his mind supplied, but he recoiled from that train of thought even more quickly than the last one) and the skin was red enough to suggest it had recently healed. But why -?
"I'm sorry," Danielle's voice caressed his mind and he dropped his shirt, his fingers returning to his temples as he gasped in pain. Sam sank to his knees, feeling so lost and confused and completely out of whack. What was wrong with him? He tried to focus, get his bearings, do anything to make his brain function properly.
The full-length mirror shattered.
That can't be good, a small part of him thought as he forced himself back over to the bed, collapsing on it and curling into a ball on one side as he ignored the pain in his back for the time being. Why was he still in Cold Oak? Where was Danielle? What had happened to Dean and Bobby?
Dean.
The name suddenly brought up a mess of emotions that Sam wasn't quite sure he'd ever felt before. There were all the normal emotions associated with his older brother's name, plus the new ones that had been added at Azazel's earlier declaration -
"It's because of your big brother that you're a freak, kid."
- Sam wanted to stop thinking right now, but there was still the confusing mess that told him Dean had done something else, something… something even worse.
Why can't I remember?
It was like his brain had been run through a cheese grater and he had to fit every last bit back together again. Fantastic.
It took some more time for the worst of his aches and pains to finally fade, and Sam was eventually able to sit up once more. He was massaging his temples when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps. He quickly forced himself to his feet to try and defend himself and nearly fell over.
"Whoa, Sam, easy!"
Sam opened his eyes to find Dean holding him upright. "Dean?"
Dean's smile was genuine as he pulled him into a tight hug that made his aches and pains more noticeable, but he spotted something in the older man's eyes that screamed fear and relief before he was engulfed in his brother's arms. But why -?
I can't sense his emotions.
The realization was so strange to him that Sam wasn't entirely certain how to process it. What was going on? He squeezed his eyes shut, reaching out and -
Was so scared but so relieved now you're okay and it's fine that I made my choice because you're alive -
"Different," Sam blurted without thinking. "Why's it different?"
He opened his eyes to see a perturbed look on Dean's face as he pulled away. "What's different?" he asked. "Sam, are you okay?"
"Have to -" Sam shook his head, suddenly frustrated. Why weren't his brain and mouth cooperating the right way? "Have to work at it. Empathy, it's… it's different."
Dean blinked up at him and said, "Here, why don't you sit down and try saying that again in English."
"It was English," Sam huffed as he was lowered to the bed once more.
"And I'll believe you when I can understand it," Dean told him. There was a moment of silence. "What happened to the mirror?"
"Broke it," Sam said. "Powers are… it's all messed up."
"Your powers are messed up?" Dean asked.
Sam nodded and winced, returning his hands to his head. "Didn't mean to break it… just happened." He looked up at Dean. "What happened to me?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Dean asked him in return, his worry palpable.
Sam racked his brains, trying to remember. "Cold Oak," he said. "Dani said she was sorry," he whispered, "and then… this pain, like, white-hot…" He gestured to his lower back, watching the play of emotions in Dean's eyes. "You started running at me and…" It felt like there should be more, so much more, but he couldn't, for the life of him, remember what it was.
He watched Dean visibly swallow as he snagged a chair and dragged over to the side of the bed. "Dani, she -" He broke off and rubbed at his face. "I guess she had a knife, and she stabbed you in the back before running off." Dean's expression turned sad and weary as he met Sam's gaze. "You lost a lot of blood," he admitted next, "and I thought I was gonna…" He blinked hard a few times and looked away.
Something seemed wrong with that statement, but when Sam tried to access his empathy again, he only got an increased headache for his troubles. So, he tried to logic his way through Dean's tale. "Dani had a knife she found," he sighed, "but Dean…" He leaned forward, trying to catch Dean's eye. "That wound… I looked at it, there's no way you or Bobby coulda fixed that."
Dean met his eyes, and Sam suddenly knew what had happened. "You made a Deal," he breathed, and the alarm in his brother's eyes only confirmed it where his abilities could not for the moment. "Dean, I… I died. Dani actually killed me and you went out and did the one thing you weren't supposed to!" His voice was gradually getting louder as he forced himself back to his feet. "Dad told us not to play into Azazel's hands!"
"Sammy -"
"No," Sam cut Dean off. "We knew Azazel wanted both you and Dad in Hell, Dean. We knew it, and you did it, anyway!" He grabbed Dean's arm and dragged him to his feet. "How long did you get, Dean?"
Dean didn't say anything.
"HOW LONG?" Sam practically screamed, the turmoil of his emotions almost too much to bear.
"One year," Dean whispered.
Sam let go of Dean's arm and took a step back, staring at Dean in dismay. He thought he knew his big brother, but he never once thought the older man to be so capable of following in their father's footsteps. It didn't matter that he understood why John had made the choice he had, because he still wished that the man hadn't done it. He wasn't worthy of such sacrifices!
Swallowing hard, Sam turned away and ran his hands through his hair. Everyone's gonna leave me, he thought desperately. It was Dean's greatest fear, but now it was going to be Sam's fear to see realized. He had spent his free time after John died researching Demon Deals, and he already knew there was no way out unless he could find the demon that now held Dean's contract and convince them to renege it.
Which wasn't going to happen.
"I can't save you from this," he whispered brokenly, swiping angrily at the tears that had started falling without his permission.
"No," Dean replied softly. "You can't. If I try anything, you drop dead and the Deal's off."
Sam turned to face his brother again. "I'm not worth this," he whispered.
"Yes you are!" Dean said, voice suddenly so fierce and filled with such conviction it left Sam speechless. "I don't care what you say, I would make the same choice every time if I had to!"
Sam looked away and saw the table in the next room was filled with food. His stomach suddenly growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten for more than a day. Dean smiled, but it was a little wobbly and scared.
"Hungry?" he asked. "I'm starving."
Sam had the feeling that Dean hadn't eaten recently, either, so he nodded, swiping at his tears once more and following Dean over to the table. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Dean asked what had happened to Sam before he and Bobby showed up. Sam told him everything, leaving out only one detail from his dream.
Dean didn't need to know that he would one day travel back in time and direct Azazel's attention to their parents. He had enough on his plate as it was, his easy acceptance that his life would be over in a year making Sam's heart clench.
He knew he couldn't save Dean, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.
While he knew lying to Sam wouldn't have ever worked, Dean had at least hoped to avoid the topic of how the kid was even alive after what Danielle had done until later. Sadly, that wasn't the case.
"I trusted her," Dean said quietly when Sam finished his story.
"Dean -"
"No, Sam," Dean cut his brother off. "We both trusted her, even though there were worries, and we…" He grabbed a bottle of beer and took a swig from it. "I should've known," he said.
"Should've known that Danielle was having nightmares about me ending the world?" Sam said dubiously. "Danielle spent months as an Empath before I acquired the ability. If there was something she didn't want me to know, then I wouldn't've known it, plain and simple."
"But why wouldn't she tell us something like that?" Dean asked, snagging the last bottle of beer and popping the lid off with the edge of the table. "Having visions in her sleep? We've been down this road, Sammy, we know how that goes!"
Sam stared at Dean sadly. "I don't know why she never said anything," he said, "but she seemed desperate to stop her dreams from happening." He leaned back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair, wincing as though all his muscles were still a little stiff. "This is probably gonna sound bizarre," he said after a moment had passed, "but I got the feeling she wanted to save me from what she thought was a future set in stone, and that was why she…" He trailed off, unable to say it.
"She really thought you were gonna end the world," Dean stated disbelievingly.
Sam shrugged uncomfortably. "She really seemed to think that that was the case," he said. "I dunno, Dean, but she's out there, doing God knows what, and we can't just let her go." He started to heave himself up with a groan.
"Dude," Dean snapped, moving forward to shove Sam back down, "you've only been alive for what? Two hours? Give your body a break!"
"We don't have time, Dean," Sam retorted, pushing Dean's hands away and rising again. "Like it or not, Danielle's gonna do whatever Azazel wants her to do because she thinks she has no other choice! Now are you gonna help me on this or not?"
Dean stared at his little brother, muscles tense and jaw clenched in frustration and anger. This was so like Sam to want to focus on the bigger picture, and Dean knew that this time, he couldn't stop it. "Fine," he sighed, "but we're taking the walk to the car easy, got it? You're still kinda stiff, don't think I didn't notice it."
Sam rolled his eyes, but nodded. They packed up the spare bottles of water and headed out, leaving Cold Oak behind forever.
Staying up all night to do research wasn't anything new to Bobby Singer, but then, the stakes had never been so high and he didn't even know what was coming. Just then, he heard the unmistakable sound of the Impala pulling up to the house, but that didn't make sense, because Dean had said he was out -
That was when Bobby stepped outside to see both Dean and Sam clamber out of the Impala.
"Sam?" he gasped, eyes wide.
Sam looked up and met his eyes. They were red as though he'd been crying recently, and the smile he gave him didn't reach said eyes.
"I know," he said to Bobby as he walked past him and into the house without sparing a glance at Dean. Bobby turned to Dean just in time to see his shoulders slump.
"What'd you do?" Bobby hissed at Dean as he moved toward him.
"He made a Deal," Sam called over his shoulder before the front door slammed shut.
Bobby shut his eyes tightly for a moment. "Are you idjits trying to kill me?" he asked Dean sharply. "How long'd you get?"
"A year," Dean said softly. Bobby glared at Dean. "I know what you're gonna say," Dean rushed on before he could open his mouth, "and I know that I just did something Azazel had threatened Sam with, I do, but I…" He trailed off and looked away, blinking hard in the late-morning sunlight. "I couldn't let him die, Bobby," he whispered, voice choking up in a way Bobby had never actually heard before. "I couldn't. He's my brother, I had to save him!"
"And how do you think he feels knowing where you're goin', huh?" Bobby reached out and grabbed Dean's shoulders. "There's no way Sam or your daddy wanted you to ever do somethin' like this, no way!"
Dean met his eyes with a defiant stare, eyes shining with the tears Bobby knew the eldest of John's boys would never let loose. "I've had more chances at life than I should've had," he said quietly, but so firmly that Bobby could barely believe it was actually Dean talking. "Sam turned a blind eye when Dad was missin' and my heart was goin' out on me, and Dad -" He broke off and looked away. "I'm just resetting the natural order -"
Bobby had heard enough. He shook Dean hard. "Do you really have that low an opinion of yourself? You matter, Dean! Both me and Sam care about you. Didn't that Utah girl tell you that Sam depends on you? You, and nobody else! I don't even come close, an' I know it!"
He released Dean's shoulders and stepped back. "You break my heart, kid," he sighed after a moment.
Dean didn't say anything, just stood there and stared at the ground.
Bobby sighed again and headed inside, heading straight for the study and finding Sam at his desk, just like he'd expected. "How'd you figure it out?" he asked him quietly. "I know you keep that empathy thing wrapped up most of the time."
"Everything's a bit messed up right now," Sam sighed after a moment, looking up at Bobby with a world-weary expression. "I shattered a mirror on accident and I had to work at sensing emotions instead of just dropping the shield and letting them in." He looked away and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm still in a lot of pain," he added quietly enough that Bobby had to move closer to hear him, and then he stood, slowly pulling up the back of his shirt for Bobby to see.
The scar where he'd been stabbed was an ugly, twisted mass of scar tissue.
"No way you or Dean could've fixed that," Sam whispered, lowering his shirt.
"You're right," Bobby said. "We'll fix this, Sam. We'll find a way out of this Deal, I promise you."
"I read about Deals after Dad…" Sam took a breath and blinked a few times before continuing. "We have to find the demon that holds his contract and convince it to renege without me dropping dead again." He shrugged after a moment. "Or I could just end it myself -"
"No," Bobby bit out before Sam could say another word. "We are not goin' down that road, Sam."
Sam's eyes were more than damp when he looked at Bobby and he turned away, hands covertly moving up to his face to wipe away his tears. He cleared his throat and turned around once more.
"So," he said, voice rougher than usual, "do we have any idea what Azazel's going to do next?"
Bobby's heart clenched at the desolate, but determined expression on Sam's face and he forced himself to focus. "What happened in Cold Oak?" he asked.
"Turns out that Azazel only needs one of us," Sam said quietly. "A leader for his army, and since Danielle -" He broke off and took another deep breath. "If we can figure out where the most signs of demonic activity are, then we can find both Dani and Azazel."
Bobby nodded and moved over to the desk to gesture to the map of Wyoming. "Here's your activity," he said, gesturing to the southern half of the state. "Couldn't tell you what it means, but it's like they're surrounding one specific area."
"Bobby!" Dean called out, and both Bobby and Sam looked up to see Dean walking into the house with Ellen Harvelle.
"You're alive," Bobby said, straightening.
Ellen nodded, looking almost dead on her feet. Her daughter stepped into the room next.
"It's Mom and I'm me," Jo said, brushing past Dean to face Bobby directly and looking less like a pretty girl and more like a true Hunter. "Dean ran the tests himself."
"Okay," Sam said, suddenly sounding more alert and business-like. "Between the five of us, we should be able to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it."
Bobby looked over at Sam, noting the fierce determination that dominated the exhaustion and pain. Like it or not, they had work to do and the clock was ticking.
Sunlight was streaming brightly through the motel room window when Danielle finally woke, feeling recharged after her twenty-five mile walk and the three-hour drive down to the interstate. She'd been running on fumes by that point, so she ditched the car and persuaded the lady at the check-in desk of the first motel she saw to give her a room for the night, free of charge.
The mind control thing was very useful, even if the cost to acquire it had been awful.
Danielle slowly sat up, pushing her tangled hair from her face as she got her bearings. She hadn't had any dreams, let alone nightmares, but even though she was physically refreshed, she still felt emotionally drained.
The worst part was knowing what was yet to come.
After taking a shower, Danielle tracked down the nearest diner and bought a simple meal with what remained of her cash. She savored the simple cheeseburger and seasoned fries, almost imagining that they could be her last meal ever. Maybe that was best, she thought idly, starting to feel rather detached about the idea of dying, which could quite possibly happen before the day was even out. She decided that before she headed off into the wastelands of southern Wyoming, she would find herself a McDonald's and enjoy a quarter-pounder with cheese from them one last time. Then she wondered if planning out things for her death might be a little too morbid.
Once her meal was finished, Danielle headed down the street, feeling glad to find a used car lot. It took little effort to get a car handed over with temporary registration and a full tank of gas. Danielle knew the things she was doing weren't good by any stretch of the imagination, but like it or not, she had the ability and a destination that would take far too long to reach on foot.
"Thank you!" she told the car salesmen as she drove away in an old Subaru, heading west down I-90. She figured she had a semi-decent head start, assuming that Sam had come back to life somewhere around midnight…
The radio in this car worked, but unfortunately, a lot of South Dakota was so empty that it didn't pick up many stations, and those that it did were almost too garbled by static to enjoy. Once again, Danielle was left with nothing but her thoughts.
She wondered how many people headed straight for their own deaths, knowing who would kill them and why. It stood to reason that it was a pretty heroic thing to do, but then, Sam wasn't going to know any of the things she knew when they met one last time, so she doubted that he or Dean would see it that way. That was when she got an idea.
Danielle knew the angels had to be watching her every move, but they hadn't said a thing about not telling her family anything. Loopholes, right?
The next big town with both a supply store and post office became Danielle's home for a few hours while she gathered what she needed. The first letter was placed in one envelope, which was mailed off at once. The other envelope had information that was more time-sensitive material in some ways, so she made sure to leave instructions with the post office about when it was to be delivered. After that, she was back in her car and out on the road once more.
Danielle's heart was still heavy with what she had to do, but it also felt as though at least one burden had been lifted. Whatever was coming, she knew now that she would face it head-on with the knowledge that she had done all she could to save the people she cared about, and that it had to be good enough. The rest was up to Sam and Dean.
TBC...
Chapter Nine
Author: yami_faerie
Words: ~4,000
Ratings/Warnings: Rated PG-13, or R if you're offended by the "f" word, language, some violence, spoilers for seasons 1-5.
Disclaimer: This isn't my world. I just like to imagine it is.
Summary: It's finally time for Sam to join the competition in Cold Oak, South Dakota. Will Dean and Bobby be able to find Sam and the other special children with him before it's too late? This is a retelling of 2.21 and 2.22 "All Hell Breaks Loose" and features my OFC Danielle Young.
Chapter Eight: Twisted Every Way
April 27, 2007
Pain. It almost bordered on complete agony, and Sam wasn't sure how he was supposed to work through it. He wasn't even sure why he hurt so badly.
His lower back felt like it was on fire, almost white-hot, and his head, well… Sam had suffered a few headaches almost debilitating enough to be considered migraines, but this one blew them all out of the water.
Why was he in so much pain?
It took several minutes to force himself into a sitting position, slumped against what felt like a metal headboard as he clutched at his head, breathing hard. Where was he? What the hell was going on?
Several more minutes later, Sam was able to crack his eyes open. He was alone in a room that looked old and abandoned. What was he doing in a place like this?
"Cold Oak, South Dakota. All the residents fled because they swore the town was haunted."
"But there's nothing here."
Oh. Right. Cold Oak, the location of Azazel's game, where Danielle had…
Sam stopped that train of thought for the moment, instead noticing that the pain in his lower back had faded to a raging throb. He forced himself to his feet and made his way over to an old, full-length mirror, determined to figure out why his back hurt so damn much.
It took a few tries to raise his shirt, due to the continued pain and an unpleasant clenching in his muscles that felt like they were strung too tightly to move properly, but eventually he was able to accomplish what should have been a menial task.
What he saw made him gasp.
The scar tissue was a little under two inches in width (just like that knife, his mind supplied, but he recoiled from that train of thought even more quickly than the last one) and the skin was red enough to suggest it had recently healed. But why -?
"I'm sorry," Danielle's voice caressed his mind and he dropped his shirt, his fingers returning to his temples as he gasped in pain. Sam sank to his knees, feeling so lost and confused and completely out of whack. What was wrong with him? He tried to focus, get his bearings, do anything to make his brain function properly.
The full-length mirror shattered.
That can't be good, a small part of him thought as he forced himself back over to the bed, collapsing on it and curling into a ball on one side as he ignored the pain in his back for the time being. Why was he still in Cold Oak? Where was Danielle? What had happened to Dean and Bobby?
Dean.
The name suddenly brought up a mess of emotions that Sam wasn't quite sure he'd ever felt before. There were all the normal emotions associated with his older brother's name, plus the new ones that had been added at Azazel's earlier declaration -
"It's because of your big brother that you're a freak, kid."
- Sam wanted to stop thinking right now, but there was still the confusing mess that told him Dean had done something else, something… something even worse.
Why can't I remember?
It was like his brain had been run through a cheese grater and he had to fit every last bit back together again. Fantastic.
It took some more time for the worst of his aches and pains to finally fade, and Sam was eventually able to sit up once more. He was massaging his temples when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps. He quickly forced himself to his feet to try and defend himself and nearly fell over.
"Whoa, Sam, easy!"
Sam opened his eyes to find Dean holding him upright. "Dean?"
Dean's smile was genuine as he pulled him into a tight hug that made his aches and pains more noticeable, but he spotted something in the older man's eyes that screamed fear and relief before he was engulfed in his brother's arms. But why -?
I can't sense his emotions.
The realization was so strange to him that Sam wasn't entirely certain how to process it. What was going on? He squeezed his eyes shut, reaching out and -
Was so scared but so relieved now you're okay and it's fine that I made my choice because you're alive -
"Different," Sam blurted without thinking. "Why's it different?"
He opened his eyes to see a perturbed look on Dean's face as he pulled away. "What's different?" he asked. "Sam, are you okay?"
"Have to -" Sam shook his head, suddenly frustrated. Why weren't his brain and mouth cooperating the right way? "Have to work at it. Empathy, it's… it's different."
Dean blinked up at him and said, "Here, why don't you sit down and try saying that again in English."
"It was English," Sam huffed as he was lowered to the bed once more.
"And I'll believe you when I can understand it," Dean told him. There was a moment of silence. "What happened to the mirror?"
"Broke it," Sam said. "Powers are… it's all messed up."
"Your powers are messed up?" Dean asked.
Sam nodded and winced, returning his hands to his head. "Didn't mean to break it… just happened." He looked up at Dean. "What happened to me?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Dean asked him in return, his worry palpable.
Sam racked his brains, trying to remember. "Cold Oak," he said. "Dani said she was sorry," he whispered, "and then… this pain, like, white-hot…" He gestured to his lower back, watching the play of emotions in Dean's eyes. "You started running at me and…" It felt like there should be more, so much more, but he couldn't, for the life of him, remember what it was.
He watched Dean visibly swallow as he snagged a chair and dragged over to the side of the bed. "Dani, she -" He broke off and rubbed at his face. "I guess she had a knife, and she stabbed you in the back before running off." Dean's expression turned sad and weary as he met Sam's gaze. "You lost a lot of blood," he admitted next, "and I thought I was gonna…" He blinked hard a few times and looked away.
Something seemed wrong with that statement, but when Sam tried to access his empathy again, he only got an increased headache for his troubles. So, he tried to logic his way through Dean's tale. "Dani had a knife she found," he sighed, "but Dean…" He leaned forward, trying to catch Dean's eye. "That wound… I looked at it, there's no way you or Bobby coulda fixed that."
Dean met his eyes, and Sam suddenly knew what had happened. "You made a Deal," he breathed, and the alarm in his brother's eyes only confirmed it where his abilities could not for the moment. "Dean, I… I died. Dani actually killed me and you went out and did the one thing you weren't supposed to!" His voice was gradually getting louder as he forced himself back to his feet. "Dad told us not to play into Azazel's hands!"
"Sammy -"
"No," Sam cut Dean off. "We knew Azazel wanted both you and Dad in Hell, Dean. We knew it, and you did it, anyway!" He grabbed Dean's arm and dragged him to his feet. "How long did you get, Dean?"
Dean didn't say anything.
"HOW LONG?" Sam practically screamed, the turmoil of his emotions almost too much to bear.
"One year," Dean whispered.
Sam let go of Dean's arm and took a step back, staring at Dean in dismay. He thought he knew his big brother, but he never once thought the older man to be so capable of following in their father's footsteps. It didn't matter that he understood why John had made the choice he had, because he still wished that the man hadn't done it. He wasn't worthy of such sacrifices!
Swallowing hard, Sam turned away and ran his hands through his hair. Everyone's gonna leave me, he thought desperately. It was Dean's greatest fear, but now it was going to be Sam's fear to see realized. He had spent his free time after John died researching Demon Deals, and he already knew there was no way out unless he could find the demon that now held Dean's contract and convince them to renege it.
Which wasn't going to happen.
"I can't save you from this," he whispered brokenly, swiping angrily at the tears that had started falling without his permission.
"No," Dean replied softly. "You can't. If I try anything, you drop dead and the Deal's off."
Sam turned to face his brother again. "I'm not worth this," he whispered.
"Yes you are!" Dean said, voice suddenly so fierce and filled with such conviction it left Sam speechless. "I don't care what you say, I would make the same choice every time if I had to!"
Sam looked away and saw the table in the next room was filled with food. His stomach suddenly growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten for more than a day. Dean smiled, but it was a little wobbly and scared.
"Hungry?" he asked. "I'm starving."
Sam had the feeling that Dean hadn't eaten recently, either, so he nodded, swiping at his tears once more and following Dean over to the table. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Dean asked what had happened to Sam before he and Bobby showed up. Sam told him everything, leaving out only one detail from his dream.
Dean didn't need to know that he would one day travel back in time and direct Azazel's attention to their parents. He had enough on his plate as it was, his easy acceptance that his life would be over in a year making Sam's heart clench.
He knew he couldn't save Dean, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.
While he knew lying to Sam wouldn't have ever worked, Dean had at least hoped to avoid the topic of how the kid was even alive after what Danielle had done until later. Sadly, that wasn't the case.
"I trusted her," Dean said quietly when Sam finished his story.
"Dean -"
"No, Sam," Dean cut his brother off. "We both trusted her, even though there were worries, and we…" He grabbed a bottle of beer and took a swig from it. "I should've known," he said.
"Should've known that Danielle was having nightmares about me ending the world?" Sam said dubiously. "Danielle spent months as an Empath before I acquired the ability. If there was something she didn't want me to know, then I wouldn't've known it, plain and simple."
"But why wouldn't she tell us something like that?" Dean asked, snagging the last bottle of beer and popping the lid off with the edge of the table. "Having visions in her sleep? We've been down this road, Sammy, we know how that goes!"
Sam stared at Dean sadly. "I don't know why she never said anything," he said, "but she seemed desperate to stop her dreams from happening." He leaned back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair, wincing as though all his muscles were still a little stiff. "This is probably gonna sound bizarre," he said after a moment had passed, "but I got the feeling she wanted to save me from what she thought was a future set in stone, and that was why she…" He trailed off, unable to say it.
"She really thought you were gonna end the world," Dean stated disbelievingly.
Sam shrugged uncomfortably. "She really seemed to think that that was the case," he said. "I dunno, Dean, but she's out there, doing God knows what, and we can't just let her go." He started to heave himself up with a groan.
"Dude," Dean snapped, moving forward to shove Sam back down, "you've only been alive for what? Two hours? Give your body a break!"
"We don't have time, Dean," Sam retorted, pushing Dean's hands away and rising again. "Like it or not, Danielle's gonna do whatever Azazel wants her to do because she thinks she has no other choice! Now are you gonna help me on this or not?"
Dean stared at his little brother, muscles tense and jaw clenched in frustration and anger. This was so like Sam to want to focus on the bigger picture, and Dean knew that this time, he couldn't stop it. "Fine," he sighed, "but we're taking the walk to the car easy, got it? You're still kinda stiff, don't think I didn't notice it."
Sam rolled his eyes, but nodded. They packed up the spare bottles of water and headed out, leaving Cold Oak behind forever.
Staying up all night to do research wasn't anything new to Bobby Singer, but then, the stakes had never been so high and he didn't even know what was coming. Just then, he heard the unmistakable sound of the Impala pulling up to the house, but that didn't make sense, because Dean had said he was out -
That was when Bobby stepped outside to see both Dean and Sam clamber out of the Impala.
"Sam?" he gasped, eyes wide.
Sam looked up and met his eyes. They were red as though he'd been crying recently, and the smile he gave him didn't reach said eyes.
"I know," he said to Bobby as he walked past him and into the house without sparing a glance at Dean. Bobby turned to Dean just in time to see his shoulders slump.
"What'd you do?" Bobby hissed at Dean as he moved toward him.
"He made a Deal," Sam called over his shoulder before the front door slammed shut.
Bobby shut his eyes tightly for a moment. "Are you idjits trying to kill me?" he asked Dean sharply. "How long'd you get?"
"A year," Dean said softly. Bobby glared at Dean. "I know what you're gonna say," Dean rushed on before he could open his mouth, "and I know that I just did something Azazel had threatened Sam with, I do, but I…" He trailed off and looked away, blinking hard in the late-morning sunlight. "I couldn't let him die, Bobby," he whispered, voice choking up in a way Bobby had never actually heard before. "I couldn't. He's my brother, I had to save him!"
"And how do you think he feels knowing where you're goin', huh?" Bobby reached out and grabbed Dean's shoulders. "There's no way Sam or your daddy wanted you to ever do somethin' like this, no way!"
Dean met his eyes with a defiant stare, eyes shining with the tears Bobby knew the eldest of John's boys would never let loose. "I've had more chances at life than I should've had," he said quietly, but so firmly that Bobby could barely believe it was actually Dean talking. "Sam turned a blind eye when Dad was missin' and my heart was goin' out on me, and Dad -" He broke off and looked away. "I'm just resetting the natural order -"
Bobby had heard enough. He shook Dean hard. "Do you really have that low an opinion of yourself? You matter, Dean! Both me and Sam care about you. Didn't that Utah girl tell you that Sam depends on you? You, and nobody else! I don't even come close, an' I know it!"
He released Dean's shoulders and stepped back. "You break my heart, kid," he sighed after a moment.
Dean didn't say anything, just stood there and stared at the ground.
Bobby sighed again and headed inside, heading straight for the study and finding Sam at his desk, just like he'd expected. "How'd you figure it out?" he asked him quietly. "I know you keep that empathy thing wrapped up most of the time."
"Everything's a bit messed up right now," Sam sighed after a moment, looking up at Bobby with a world-weary expression. "I shattered a mirror on accident and I had to work at sensing emotions instead of just dropping the shield and letting them in." He looked away and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm still in a lot of pain," he added quietly enough that Bobby had to move closer to hear him, and then he stood, slowly pulling up the back of his shirt for Bobby to see.
The scar where he'd been stabbed was an ugly, twisted mass of scar tissue.
"No way you or Dean could've fixed that," Sam whispered, lowering his shirt.
"You're right," Bobby said. "We'll fix this, Sam. We'll find a way out of this Deal, I promise you."
"I read about Deals after Dad…" Sam took a breath and blinked a few times before continuing. "We have to find the demon that holds his contract and convince it to renege without me dropping dead again." He shrugged after a moment. "Or I could just end it myself -"
"No," Bobby bit out before Sam could say another word. "We are not goin' down that road, Sam."
Sam's eyes were more than damp when he looked at Bobby and he turned away, hands covertly moving up to his face to wipe away his tears. He cleared his throat and turned around once more.
"So," he said, voice rougher than usual, "do we have any idea what Azazel's going to do next?"
Bobby's heart clenched at the desolate, but determined expression on Sam's face and he forced himself to focus. "What happened in Cold Oak?" he asked.
"Turns out that Azazel only needs one of us," Sam said quietly. "A leader for his army, and since Danielle -" He broke off and took another deep breath. "If we can figure out where the most signs of demonic activity are, then we can find both Dani and Azazel."
Bobby nodded and moved over to the desk to gesture to the map of Wyoming. "Here's your activity," he said, gesturing to the southern half of the state. "Couldn't tell you what it means, but it's like they're surrounding one specific area."
"Bobby!" Dean called out, and both Bobby and Sam looked up to see Dean walking into the house with Ellen Harvelle.
"You're alive," Bobby said, straightening.
Ellen nodded, looking almost dead on her feet. Her daughter stepped into the room next.
"It's Mom and I'm me," Jo said, brushing past Dean to face Bobby directly and looking less like a pretty girl and more like a true Hunter. "Dean ran the tests himself."
"Okay," Sam said, suddenly sounding more alert and business-like. "Between the five of us, we should be able to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it."
Bobby looked over at Sam, noting the fierce determination that dominated the exhaustion and pain. Like it or not, they had work to do and the clock was ticking.
Sunlight was streaming brightly through the motel room window when Danielle finally woke, feeling recharged after her twenty-five mile walk and the three-hour drive down to the interstate. She'd been running on fumes by that point, so she ditched the car and persuaded the lady at the check-in desk of the first motel she saw to give her a room for the night, free of charge.
The mind control thing was very useful, even if the cost to acquire it had been awful.
Danielle slowly sat up, pushing her tangled hair from her face as she got her bearings. She hadn't had any dreams, let alone nightmares, but even though she was physically refreshed, she still felt emotionally drained.
The worst part was knowing what was yet to come.
After taking a shower, Danielle tracked down the nearest diner and bought a simple meal with what remained of her cash. She savored the simple cheeseburger and seasoned fries, almost imagining that they could be her last meal ever. Maybe that was best, she thought idly, starting to feel rather detached about the idea of dying, which could quite possibly happen before the day was even out. She decided that before she headed off into the wastelands of southern Wyoming, she would find herself a McDonald's and enjoy a quarter-pounder with cheese from them one last time. Then she wondered if planning out things for her death might be a little too morbid.
Once her meal was finished, Danielle headed down the street, feeling glad to find a used car lot. It took little effort to get a car handed over with temporary registration and a full tank of gas. Danielle knew the things she was doing weren't good by any stretch of the imagination, but like it or not, she had the ability and a destination that would take far too long to reach on foot.
"Thank you!" she told the car salesmen as she drove away in an old Subaru, heading west down I-90. She figured she had a semi-decent head start, assuming that Sam had come back to life somewhere around midnight…
The radio in this car worked, but unfortunately, a lot of South Dakota was so empty that it didn't pick up many stations, and those that it did were almost too garbled by static to enjoy. Once again, Danielle was left with nothing but her thoughts.
She wondered how many people headed straight for their own deaths, knowing who would kill them and why. It stood to reason that it was a pretty heroic thing to do, but then, Sam wasn't going to know any of the things she knew when they met one last time, so she doubted that he or Dean would see it that way. That was when she got an idea.
Danielle knew the angels had to be watching her every move, but they hadn't said a thing about not telling her family anything. Loopholes, right?
The next big town with both a supply store and post office became Danielle's home for a few hours while she gathered what she needed. The first letter was placed in one envelope, which was mailed off at once. The other envelope had information that was more time-sensitive material in some ways, so she made sure to leave instructions with the post office about when it was to be delivered. After that, she was back in her car and out on the road once more.
Danielle's heart was still heavy with what she had to do, but it also felt as though at least one burden had been lifted. Whatever was coming, she knew now that she would face it head-on with the knowledge that she had done all she could to save the people she cared about, and that it had to be good enough. The rest was up to Sam and Dean.
TBC...
Chapter Nine