Sacrifice 5/6
Unsurprisingly dinner is relatively quiet, everyone exhausted and tense after the long struggle to understand what’s going on. Ailani doesn’t join them, and Jameson doesn’t stay long, excusing himself to return to her side.
“Is she okay?” Dean asks, mildly concerned. “She hasn’t eaten since she got here, and she didn’t look so good earlier.”
“We think she’s dying,” Susan says softly. “It’s hard to say for sure, no one knows enough about her kind to recognize the symptoms, but she’s growing weaker by the day. We think that taking a new host and the loss of her daughter so close together were just too much for her.”
“What about Jameson? What’s his role in all this?” Sam’s not a big fan of gossip, but at this point anything they know could prove useful.
“The woman Ailani took as her vessel was his wife,” Kerr tells them, settling back. “It’s really their story to tell, but I don’t think Jameson will mind us sharing the basics.”
“Dragons can shapeshift or they can take a host,” Susan says, continuing the story. “They are similar to angels in that they usually prefer a specific bloodline. In the past, certain children were dedicated to the family’s patron dragon in case they were needed, but after the dragons went to earth the tradition was forgotten. When Ailani awoke, she took the first member of her family that she found as her vessel.”
“And her family just accepted that? What the hell.” There’s genuine anger in Dean’s voice, no doubt in part linked to his and Sam’s experiences, as well as the terrible damage they’ve seen wrought on other families.
“In many families it’s an honor,” Kerr says. “Ailani’s family has been part of the Men of Letters since before there was an official 'Men of Letters' in our land. We came together in part because of the dragons and our connection to them, and have used that connection and the strength it brings our lines to keep our people safe. The soul bound to our home remembers our past. Jameson might be an outsider, but he respects our traditions. He knows how much it means to all of us that Ailani is with us again, even for a short time.”
“That’s why he’s willing to be bound here, isn’t it?” Sam asks softly. “He didn’t want to live without her.”
“I think so,” Susan says reluctantly. It’s clear they’ve reached the end of what they’re willing to share. “But that’s between him and Ailani.”
“He may not need to,” Dean says seriously. “We talked to a...well, a friend of ours. Who is dead. He’s kind of stuck in the Veil through no fault of his own, and he’s not adverse to taking on the job.”
Kerr looks to Susan, who shrugs. “Technically, I guess it’s possible. It’s not done very often for obvious reasons--we can’t call up a ghost from a hundred years ago and expect them to integrate and interact with twenty-first century technology and hunters. But if your friend is still self aware and willing to do the job, then I sure don’t see why we couldn’t.” Both of them decidedly happier about the prospect of saving their friend.
“We’ve got an early morning tomorrow,” Sam says, his heart feeling lighter with the knowledge that even if they can’t save Ailani or her daughter, they might still save Jameson. “I’m curious, have either of you met Ailani’s daughter?”
“No, I never met Leinani,” Susan says, smiling a little wistfully. “Her name means beautiful child. I remember my great-grandmother used to tell stories about a little girl who would sometimes come to play with her in the garden pool. No one knew who she belonged to, but she was kind and happy and full of life. One day she stopped coming to play, and my great-grandmother never knew what happened to her. She wondered for the rest of her life. Now I think it probably was Leinani, and that she went to earth--became stone--when her mother did.”
“Hopefully in the morning we’ll find out,” Sam says. He reaches over to pat her hand comfortingly. It feels a little awkward, but she smiles gratefully. “”Let me show you where your rooms are--I think we were researching earlier when Dean was showing Jameson and Ailani around. We could all use a little sleep at this point.”
Once Susan and Kerr are in their rooms, Dean and Sam head back to Sam’s room so that they can talk privately. Despite Sam’s intention to get a good night’s sleep, they end up discussing their case until late in the night. Sam eventually falls asleep to the sounds of forties band music and Dean’s shoulder pressed against his, still thinking about Kevin and dragons and angels.
He dreams.
It’s cold again. Pale blue cold that eats away at him, turns his very bones to ice. The kind of cold that no amount of blankets can reach, the kind that comes from inside. Sam knows this cold, he remembers it with dread and terror, but when he looks for Lucifer he’s nowhere to be seen. There’s only the light. Above him he can see another figure caught in the light, trapped. This figure has wings stretching out from it’s bowed back, head thrown back in an endless scream. A voice whispers in Sam’s mind, panicked and low. SamSamSamSam but try as he might Sam can’t make out anything else.
He’s still cold when he wakes up.
Sam goes for a run, trying to shake off the remnants of his nightmare. It’s not uncommon for him to dream about his time in the Cage, but this dream has gotten under his skin. It’s never been quite like this before, but he remembers, bitterly, the other times he’s thought his dreams had meaning and he works even harder to push the memories away.
Dean has coffee going in the kitchen when Sam gets back, hands him a cup as Sam passes through on his way to get cleaned up.
“Ahh. I’ve missed having this out on the road.” He grins at Dean, inhaling deeply. “Who would have thought, you know?”
“This is the life,” Dean agrees. He tips his cup to Sam and grins back. “Doesn’t even need whiskey.”
Susan and Kerr join Sam and Dean while they’re eating breakfast, and Dean quickly serves up a plate of pancakes, bacon and eggs for each of them as they go over the steps for the spell again.
“Part of what the spell will do is make the magic in the area visible,” Kerr explains. “I’ve seen the magic that connects a soul to a Men of Letters house before, and it is usually fairly simple because the spirit wants to be there--they aren’t trying to escape. I expect the magic around Leinani--if that’s who is here--will be much denser and thicker. I may have to cut some of the spells loose to reach her, so don’t be surprised if the lights go out.”
Dean clears his throat. “Uh, that’s not going to cause a lockdown or anything, is it? Because me and Sam, we already went through that once. And we’re not too keen on doing it again.”
Kerr shakes his head. “It shouldn’t, no. But I won’t object to leaving a door propped open if you want.”
Sam and Dean both laugh, but Sam makes a mental note to do just that.
By unspoken agreement, they all head downstairs to where the spell is laid out. Dean stops by the room Ailani and Jameson are sharing with a plate of food just in case either of them wants to eat and to let them know what’s happening. Ailani stirs at the news, sitting up with obvious effort.
“I want to be there,” she says, voice trembling with effort. “I need to see--”
“Eat first,” Jameson says quietly, firmly. “If you eat, then we can go. Please, Ailani. You have to take care of yourself.”
Dean leaves them to work out the terms of their agreement, all too familiar with these types of arguments. Memories of coaxing Sam to eat even a little during the Trials resurface, and he does his best to push them away. That’s over now. Done with. Deep breath and move on. He’s still telling himself that when he steps into the room where Kerr is casting and stops to stare.
The room is full of light, low and diffuse and seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere. Sam, Susan and Kerr are standing around the edges of the circle Kerr had drawn the previous day, and Dean can see the light growing thicker along the outer line of the circle, creating a shimmering wall of force around the inner circle. And inside, Dean can see the lines of magic that Kerr was talking about at breakfast, a living web of magic going off in every direction from a central point. Dean steps closer, trying to see the centerpoint of the web, and when he does, he feels sick.
It’s a child.
They’d been expecting it, of course. And he’s glad that Ailani may be able to get some closure after all these years. But the queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach doesn’t go away, because it’s a child. Some sick bastard stole a child--dragon or no--and hooked them up to a machine in a foreign country and left them to die. He doesn’t realize how close he’s gotten to the circle until Sam’s hand closes gently on his arm.
“Dean,” he whispers. “I know it’s hard. But look what Kerr is doing. He’s setting her free.”
It’s true. The web of magic practically cocooning her is falling away, one piece at a time. And now Dean can see something else, too.
“Kevin?”
Kevin looks up from inside the circle. He’s standing in one of the areas Kerr had cleared, and he looks startlingly solid, as though the magic surrounding him had lent him strength. Even from where he’s standing Dean can see that there are tears in his eyes.
“Oh my God,” Kevin whispers. He reaches out to touch Leinani, but can’t make it through the ropes of magic. His presence seems to reach her anyway, though, and she stirs. “You have to get her out. Please.”
“Mama?” she says sleepily. She tries to sit up but the magic is still too tight around her. “Mama?” she sobs. “Mama!”
Sam’s grip on Dean’s arm isn’t gentle anymore, fingers digging into his bicep hard enough to bruise. Kerr is working faster now, slicing frantically through the ropes without regard to their connections, intent only on setting the child free. At last he’s created a space wide enough for her to sit up and for Kevin to reach her.
“Hey, hey,” Kevin says soothingly. “It’s okay, you’re going to be okay.” He opens his arms and she clings to him immediately.
“I want to go home,” she says, crying. “Please, I just want to go home.”
Kevin rocks her gently, fingers moving over her hair in long, soothing strokes. “Soon, little one. Soon.” He looks at Sam and Dean pleadingly, then his eyes shift to someone behind him.
“Leinani!”
The little girl lifts her head. “Mama?” The hope in her voice, weak and thin, breaks Dean’s heart.
Ailani stumbles forward, hand outstretched. “Leinani, sweetheart, I’m right here. I’m right here.”
Kerr staggers, clearly exhausted, as the last strand of the magical webbing obscuring Leinani falls away. Dean can see that she’s still connected to the house, but the lines move easily with her as she reaches for her mother.
Ailani turns to Kerr beseechingly and he nods, his expression strained. The spell is collapsing around them, the light dissipating and the complex webs feeding from Leinani to the rest of the house fading away, but Leinani is still visible as Ailani rushes to meet her. The little girl pulls away from Kevin's embrace, her wan face alight with joy at seeing her mother again, but after a few tottering steps away from Kevin she starts to fade away. That’s when Dean realizes that Kevin must be feeding her his energy. He catches Kevin’s eyes and nods respectfully as Kevin follows Ailani and Leinani out of the room.
“Dean.” Sam sounds as heartbroken as Dean feels. Dean pulls him into a hug, warm and reassuring. “How could they do this?” he asks, and Dean wishes he could get his hands on the monsters who thought this was acceptable. Just for a few minutes.
“I don’t know,” he says heavily. “But at least Ailani and Leinani had the chance to see each other again before the end.”
“I’m glad we were able to give them that at least,” Sam agrees. He turns to Kerr, who is leaning heavily on Susan. “Do we know what’s going to happen now?”
Kerr and Susan walk slowly toward the door, and Sam hastens to take Kerr’s other arm. “Now we have to bind your friend Kevin--I assume that was the spirit you mentioned earlier?--to the bunker and release Ailani. I gave her some of my strength, but I can’t keep her here long.” He shakes his head. “I did what I could.”
Sam guides Kerr back to the library, letting him drop gratefully into one of the soft, overstuffed chairs while Dean gets them all drinks. It feels a bit like habit, and despite the events of the morning he wants to smile at the thought.
“So tell us what just happened,” Dean says. “You said you gave Leinani some of your power?”
“That’s right,” Kerr confirms. “To help her materialize. She’s basically a ghost, like your friend Kevin.”
As though summoned, Kevin appears standing next to Sam, who flinches slightly. “Okay, can we never do that again?” he asks. “I really need to never do that again.”
“I know how you feel,” Kerr says wearily. “I’m Kerr, by the way, and this is Susan. You’re Kevin?”
Kevin nods. “What do you need me to do to? How can we set her free? I’ll do anything you need.”
“I have to rest first, at least for a little while,” Kerr tells him. “But after that, it’s going to take about two weeks to detach her completely and bind your soul in her stead.”
Kevin takes a deep breath, reflex Sam assumes. “I’m ready,” he says quietly. “I’m going to go check on Leinani, make sure she’s okay, but as soon as we can do this, I’m ready.”
After Kevin leaves, it’s not long before Kerr starts to nod off, drink in hand. Susan takes it from him before it can spill, setting it on the table before gently patting his shoulder.
“I’m going to go clean up downstairs,” she tells Sam and Dean, standing up. “We’ll need the room to begin the binding spells.”
“Sure,” Sam says. “Hold on, I’ll help. Dean, maybe you can go check on Jameson and Ailani? See if there’s anything they need?”
Dean nods, draining his glass as he stands. “Yeah, I should do that.” He shakes his head. “Hell of a day, Sammy, and it’s not even noon. But at least some good is going to come out of all this.”
Ch 6: https://a-dean-girl.livejournal.com/6743.html
Masterpost: https://a-dean-girl.livejournal.com/6372.html