09x11 - Mr. In-Between - Part Five: Sodas & Schooling
Episode Number: 09x11 of Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)
Title: Mr. In-Between
Subtitle: Sodas & Schooling
Author: dracox-serdriel
Word Count: 1,822
Rating: R
Warnings: violence, language, innuendo
Status: Complete. Feedback appreciated.
Sam returned to find his brother eating burgers for breakfast.
"You find anything?" he asked.
"Half a dozen hikers have gotten lost recently," Sam replied. "I mean, seriously, seriously lost."
"Did you speak to any of them?" Castiel asked.
"Yeah, that's what took so long."
"And?"
"Nothing. Two reported a woman in distress. They went to help her, got off the path, then suddenly were completely disoriented. Two of the others I talked to said they saw a lost animal, one identified it as a goat. One other guy said he wasn't sure why, he just felt called away. I'm pretty sure he was lying, though. I think he saw something that freaked him out."
"I think I know what we're dealing with," Cas said. "A Glaistig."
"A what now?" Dean asked.
"Colloquially she's called a Green Lady."
"Green Lady? Those are just bogeys, tall tales," Sam said.
"The Glaistig have been gone for centuries."
"Maybe she's one of the fun extras we released from the catacombs of the earth," Dean suggested.
"That's likely," Cas said.
Sam opened his computer and began typing.
"What else? About the Green Ladies?" Dean asked Cas.
"The Glaistig appears sometimes as a woman dressed in green, other times as a goat, and sometimes as something between the two. Most Glaistig find a home and protect it. They drain the blood of some for nourishment. Sometimes they trick people into drowning."
"That fits with our kills," Sam said. "According to lore, she can be killed if we consecrate the ground where she lives."
"That's not right," Castiel said. "That won't kill her. It would just drive her out of this place."
"Okay, hold on..." Sam scanned through the rest of the document. "Here we go. To kill a Green Lady, you must piece her heart with a spear tipped with brass or copper."
"You said dressed in green?" Dean asked Castiel.
"Yes," the angel replied.
"And they work like a familiar? Protecting a household?" Sam asked Cas.
"It's uncommon. Usually they protect a stretch of land."
"But it can happen? One could set up shop with a family."
"Yes, that has happened," the angel confirmed.
"Dressed in green, sound like someone we've seen?" Dean asked his brother.
"Lane."
"Who?"
Cas trailed behind the brothers as they approached the house of Jason Kindle. Sam knocked on the door, and Jeremy popped his head out.
"You're back," he said to Dean.
"Yeah, uh, Jeremy, we're looking for your nanny, Lane," Dean replied.
"She's out for a walk, and my dad's not home. I'm not supposed to let anyone in."
"That's okay," Sam said.
"You know where Lane goes for her walks?"
"No. Is she in trouble?"
"No, we just need to talk to her," Dean lied. "Thanks, Jeremy."
Cas was already back in the Impala.
"Okay, we gotta plan B to find this bitch?"
"Glaistig are creatures of habit," Cas said.
"You think she's down at the river?"
"If she's not here," Cas said.
"If that's all we got, we'd better go," Sam said.
Mississippi River. They waited outside by the river where all the bodies were found. The sun moved. The wind blew. Silence.
"Awesome," Dean muttered.
It wasn't until late afternoon that Dean had that feeling again. Someone had eyes on him.
"There it is!"
The creepy goat wasn't far off, and he needed to spear the damn thing.
Cas grappled Dean and threw him on the ground.
"What the hell're you doing?" Sam asked.
"This is what she does, Sam, she lures people astray," Cas said.
"We've gotta second problem," Sam added.
"What?" Dean asked from the ground.
"That kid, uh, Jeremy?"
Dean looked up and saw him wandering the banks.
"Did he follow us here?" Dean asked.
"It's possible."
"Okay, I get the kid, you two deal with the she-goat," Dean ordered.
Dean handed his spear off to Castiel. Sam gripped his own and nodded. They broke off, and Dean moved to the river to grab the kid.
"Jeremy!" he yelled. "Get away from there!"
But Jeremy was already too close. His feet lost their grip, and with a splash, he fell in.
Cas and Sam headed straight for the goat, which now looked more like a faun. Sparks fill the air. It was suddenly difficult to think. Sam shook it off.
Cas, on the other hand, was entranced. He couldn't take his eyes of Lane, and he dropped his spear. She transformed into a woman and dragged Castiel like a helpless kitten to the river.
Sam snapped awake. He rushed and tackled her. The angel dropped helplessly to the ground. From his position, Sam saw Dean drag Jeremy to the shore downstream.
"You see that?" he said to Lane. "That man who just saved Jeremy, one of your charges?"
Lane threw Sam off of her and got to her own feet.
"That guy right there his love. And you're just gonna kill him? After what Dean just did for you?"
Lane wavered between Castiel and Sam. She desperately wanted to drown the man who came to kill her, but Sam's words made her think. Thinking always took time -
Her thoughts were interrupted by a squelching sound from Sam plunging the spear into her heart. She looked into his eyes reproachfully. The emerald color turned amber, then the shape changed, and then, Lane was no more than an impaled goat.
"Sammy, you guys okay?" Dean yelled from downstream.
Cas stood up, still a little drugged.
"Yeah, we're good."
Beatrice, Nebraska. Benny pulled into a secluded spot. He'd been driving a long time just to clear his head. He kept to the shade and pulled out Kuravi's feather.
Flame and ash announced her arrival.
"Benny," she said. "Glad you called."
"I'm not sayin' I'm comfor'able wit' all this," Benny said. "But I'm willin' to hear ya out."
"To begin, you must stop drinking human blood," Kuravi said. "Animal blood only."
Benny shook his head. "You thin' I haven' tried? If I don' drink human blood, bein' around people's impossible."
"Once you've been off it a full week, purged yourself of it, you'll find the opposite is true."
"Purge myself?"
"Fasting for a week, then starting on animal blood. Cow is best. Cut it with this, and the transition will be easier on you."
She handed a jar of her own ashes.
"So this special sauce will jus' purge me?" Benny asked. "Bit of wit'drawl an' that's all?"
"You know better," Kuravi replied. "You'll be weaker. More human. You'll be in-between the two states. That's why the hunger goes away."
"Wha's after that?" Benny asked. "Before I git my feet wet. I needa know."
"For the other two tasks, you'll need to keep off human blood. Except for your own, you can't consume any blood from a person for any reason," she said.
"I git that."
"There is a quest. Retrieving a special object, saving an important person, something like that, in the name of a cause."
"Any cause will do?" Benny asked.
"It can't be self-serving," she said. "You rescue a friend from a fire, that's not enough. It has to be an enemy or a stranger."
"All right, and the last thing?"
"You must come to terms with your legacy as a vampire," Kuravi said. "Anyone you've turned. Everyone you've killed."
"And if I don't know all of them?"
"There are many rituals you can use to identify your victims, your offspring," Kuravi said, "and their offspring, if they have any. For the sake of disclosure, all of these rituals are painful."
"'Course they are," Benny said.
"But they work."
"And that's it? I do that, I can getta clean slate? Be human?"
"There's no such thing as a clean slate, Benny. That's the price of free will, but the judgment on your soul will start with your transformation back to human."
"I'll do it," he said.
"Once you start, you cannot stop. There are no do-overs. If you fail, I can make you human, but - "
"I understand," Benny said. "To be clear. This doesn't involve dark magic, or killin' people, or human souls bein' eaten, or anythin' crazy like that?"
"No. It's a process of healing. Nothing to do with magic," Kuravi replied.
"I kin call on you?"
"When you're ready," she said.
"Righ', thanks."
"Benny, so you know, I think he's right."
"Who?"
"Castiel, the angel. He said you weren't a monster, and I've watched you. I agree with him. You need to believe that, too, to get through all this."
Benny managed a weak smile. "I'll do my best."
Dean and Sam packed their motel room.
"I'm taking the truck," Castiel announced, brandishing Sam's keys. He bolted out the door.
"Hey!" Sam yelled. But Cas was gone, and it seemed futile to run after him.
"Guess you're giving me a lift," Sam said to Dean.
"Damnit, Cas, you bastard."
"Withhold sex."
Dean twisted around, his face confused. His brother had picked on little things about their relationship, but he hadn't joked about their sex life, not like this.
"We both know if it was anyone else, or if Cas was a woman, I'd've said that sooner," Sam said.
Silence. Dean broke out into a haze of laughter. Sam joined him.
Sam sat behind the wheel, happy to drive the Impala. Ever since he got that truck, he missed driving it.
"For the record," Dean said, "I get it."
"What?"
"The FBI Agent."
"Her name is Dodge."
"Okay, Dodge. I'm just wondering, is this a job for you? Or is it more than that?"
"It's nice to have her on our side."
"You like her."
"Yeah, I do," Sam said.
"Either way, guess we should help her with these dream things. Started recently?"
"About two weeks ago."
"Doesn't seem fishy to you?"
"Fishy?"
"She hooks up with you on a few cases, and now she's a psychic? Doesn't that kind of crap start when you're younger?"
"Usually. You think she's lying?"
"No, I think someone might be messing with her, you know, like how my brain is being hit with dreams."
"But hers are different, they're not nightmares, and they're, I dunno, more, uh, persistent?"
"Doesn't mean someone isn't pulling the strings, right?"
"What about you? Your dreams, I mean. The new ones."
Dean bit his lip. "They're not like the others, they don't wake me up or anything. Mostly they have names, I write 'em down, but the dreams themselves are dark and I can't always make anything out."
"Any names pan out?"
"After the first one nearly got me killed, I'm not keen on looking into the others."
"Then we'll look into them together," Sam said.
"You're not pissed?"
"I'm pissed, you're pissed, but let's face it. We might be brothers, but we're also grown men. So I vote we get over it and move on."
"I can do that, I think, but only if you let me play Zep."
<<< Previous Part:
Part Four: Sailboat in a Bottle
Next Episode: >>>
09x12 Problem Child
Primary Post: 09x11 Mr. In-Between
Primary Post: Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)
Title: Mr. In-Between
Subtitle: Sodas & Schooling
Author: dracox-serdriel
Word Count: 1,822
Rating: R
Warnings: violence, language, innuendo
Status: Complete. Feedback appreciated.
Sam returned to find his brother eating burgers for breakfast.
"You find anything?" he asked.
"Half a dozen hikers have gotten lost recently," Sam replied. "I mean, seriously, seriously lost."
"Did you speak to any of them?" Castiel asked.
"Yeah, that's what took so long."
"And?"
"Nothing. Two reported a woman in distress. They went to help her, got off the path, then suddenly were completely disoriented. Two of the others I talked to said they saw a lost animal, one identified it as a goat. One other guy said he wasn't sure why, he just felt called away. I'm pretty sure he was lying, though. I think he saw something that freaked him out."
"I think I know what we're dealing with," Cas said. "A Glaistig."
"A what now?" Dean asked.
"Colloquially she's called a Green Lady."
"Green Lady? Those are just bogeys, tall tales," Sam said.
"The Glaistig have been gone for centuries."
"Maybe she's one of the fun extras we released from the catacombs of the earth," Dean suggested.
"That's likely," Cas said.
Sam opened his computer and began typing.
"What else? About the Green Ladies?" Dean asked Cas.
"The Glaistig appears sometimes as a woman dressed in green, other times as a goat, and sometimes as something between the two. Most Glaistig find a home and protect it. They drain the blood of some for nourishment. Sometimes they trick people into drowning."
"That fits with our kills," Sam said. "According to lore, she can be killed if we consecrate the ground where she lives."
"That's not right," Castiel said. "That won't kill her. It would just drive her out of this place."
"Okay, hold on..." Sam scanned through the rest of the document. "Here we go. To kill a Green Lady, you must piece her heart with a spear tipped with brass or copper."
"You said dressed in green?" Dean asked Castiel.
"Yes," the angel replied.
"And they work like a familiar? Protecting a household?" Sam asked Cas.
"It's uncommon. Usually they protect a stretch of land."
"But it can happen? One could set up shop with a family."
"Yes, that has happened," the angel confirmed.
"Dressed in green, sound like someone we've seen?" Dean asked his brother.
"Lane."
"Who?"
Cas trailed behind the brothers as they approached the house of Jason Kindle. Sam knocked on the door, and Jeremy popped his head out.
"You're back," he said to Dean.
"Yeah, uh, Jeremy, we're looking for your nanny, Lane," Dean replied.
"She's out for a walk, and my dad's not home. I'm not supposed to let anyone in."
"That's okay," Sam said.
"You know where Lane goes for her walks?"
"No. Is she in trouble?"
"No, we just need to talk to her," Dean lied. "Thanks, Jeremy."
Cas was already back in the Impala.
"Okay, we gotta plan B to find this bitch?"
"Glaistig are creatures of habit," Cas said.
"You think she's down at the river?"
"If she's not here," Cas said.
"If that's all we got, we'd better go," Sam said.
Mississippi River. They waited outside by the river where all the bodies were found. The sun moved. The wind blew. Silence.
"Awesome," Dean muttered.
It wasn't until late afternoon that Dean had that feeling again. Someone had eyes on him.
"There it is!"
The creepy goat wasn't far off, and he needed to spear the damn thing.
Cas grappled Dean and threw him on the ground.
"What the hell're you doing?" Sam asked.
"This is what she does, Sam, she lures people astray," Cas said.
"We've gotta second problem," Sam added.
"What?" Dean asked from the ground.
"That kid, uh, Jeremy?"
Dean looked up and saw him wandering the banks.
"Did he follow us here?" Dean asked.
"It's possible."
"Okay, I get the kid, you two deal with the she-goat," Dean ordered.
Dean handed his spear off to Castiel. Sam gripped his own and nodded. They broke off, and Dean moved to the river to grab the kid.
"Jeremy!" he yelled. "Get away from there!"
But Jeremy was already too close. His feet lost their grip, and with a splash, he fell in.
Cas and Sam headed straight for the goat, which now looked more like a faun. Sparks fill the air. It was suddenly difficult to think. Sam shook it off.
Cas, on the other hand, was entranced. He couldn't take his eyes of Lane, and he dropped his spear. She transformed into a woman and dragged Castiel like a helpless kitten to the river.
Sam snapped awake. He rushed and tackled her. The angel dropped helplessly to the ground. From his position, Sam saw Dean drag Jeremy to the shore downstream.
"You see that?" he said to Lane. "That man who just saved Jeremy, one of your charges?"
Lane threw Sam off of her and got to her own feet.
"That guy right there his love. And you're just gonna kill him? After what Dean just did for you?"
Lane wavered between Castiel and Sam. She desperately wanted to drown the man who came to kill her, but Sam's words made her think. Thinking always took time -
Her thoughts were interrupted by a squelching sound from Sam plunging the spear into her heart. She looked into his eyes reproachfully. The emerald color turned amber, then the shape changed, and then, Lane was no more than an impaled goat.
"Sammy, you guys okay?" Dean yelled from downstream.
Cas stood up, still a little drugged.
"Yeah, we're good."
Beatrice, Nebraska. Benny pulled into a secluded spot. He'd been driving a long time just to clear his head. He kept to the shade and pulled out Kuravi's feather.
Flame and ash announced her arrival.
"Benny," she said. "Glad you called."
"I'm not sayin' I'm comfor'able wit' all this," Benny said. "But I'm willin' to hear ya out."
"To begin, you must stop drinking human blood," Kuravi said. "Animal blood only."
Benny shook his head. "You thin' I haven' tried? If I don' drink human blood, bein' around people's impossible."
"Once you've been off it a full week, purged yourself of it, you'll find the opposite is true."
"Purge myself?"
"Fasting for a week, then starting on animal blood. Cow is best. Cut it with this, and the transition will be easier on you."
She handed a jar of her own ashes.
"So this special sauce will jus' purge me?" Benny asked. "Bit of wit'drawl an' that's all?"
"You know better," Kuravi replied. "You'll be weaker. More human. You'll be in-between the two states. That's why the hunger goes away."
"Wha's after that?" Benny asked. "Before I git my feet wet. I needa know."
"For the other two tasks, you'll need to keep off human blood. Except for your own, you can't consume any blood from a person for any reason," she said.
"I git that."
"There is a quest. Retrieving a special object, saving an important person, something like that, in the name of a cause."
"Any cause will do?" Benny asked.
"It can't be self-serving," she said. "You rescue a friend from a fire, that's not enough. It has to be an enemy or a stranger."
"All right, and the last thing?"
"You must come to terms with your legacy as a vampire," Kuravi said. "Anyone you've turned. Everyone you've killed."
"And if I don't know all of them?"
"There are many rituals you can use to identify your victims, your offspring," Kuravi said, "and their offspring, if they have any. For the sake of disclosure, all of these rituals are painful."
"'Course they are," Benny said.
"But they work."
"And that's it? I do that, I can getta clean slate? Be human?"
"There's no such thing as a clean slate, Benny. That's the price of free will, but the judgment on your soul will start with your transformation back to human."
"I'll do it," he said.
"Once you start, you cannot stop. There are no do-overs. If you fail, I can make you human, but - "
"I understand," Benny said. "To be clear. This doesn't involve dark magic, or killin' people, or human souls bein' eaten, or anythin' crazy like that?"
"No. It's a process of healing. Nothing to do with magic," Kuravi replied.
"I kin call on you?"
"When you're ready," she said.
"Righ', thanks."
"Benny, so you know, I think he's right."
"Who?"
"Castiel, the angel. He said you weren't a monster, and I've watched you. I agree with him. You need to believe that, too, to get through all this."
Benny managed a weak smile. "I'll do my best."
Dean and Sam packed their motel room.
"I'm taking the truck," Castiel announced, brandishing Sam's keys. He bolted out the door.
"Hey!" Sam yelled. But Cas was gone, and it seemed futile to run after him.
"Guess you're giving me a lift," Sam said to Dean.
"Damnit, Cas, you bastard."
"Withhold sex."
Dean twisted around, his face confused. His brother had picked on little things about their relationship, but he hadn't joked about their sex life, not like this.
"We both know if it was anyone else, or if Cas was a woman, I'd've said that sooner," Sam said.
Silence. Dean broke out into a haze of laughter. Sam joined him.
Sam sat behind the wheel, happy to drive the Impala. Ever since he got that truck, he missed driving it.
"For the record," Dean said, "I get it."
"What?"
"The FBI Agent."
"Her name is Dodge."
"Okay, Dodge. I'm just wondering, is this a job for you? Or is it more than that?"
"It's nice to have her on our side."
"You like her."
"Yeah, I do," Sam said.
"Either way, guess we should help her with these dream things. Started recently?"
"About two weeks ago."
"Doesn't seem fishy to you?"
"Fishy?"
"She hooks up with you on a few cases, and now she's a psychic? Doesn't that kind of crap start when you're younger?"
"Usually. You think she's lying?"
"No, I think someone might be messing with her, you know, like how my brain is being hit with dreams."
"But hers are different, they're not nightmares, and they're, I dunno, more, uh, persistent?"
"Doesn't mean someone isn't pulling the strings, right?"
"What about you? Your dreams, I mean. The new ones."
Dean bit his lip. "They're not like the others, they don't wake me up or anything. Mostly they have names, I write 'em down, but the dreams themselves are dark and I can't always make anything out."
"Any names pan out?"
"After the first one nearly got me killed, I'm not keen on looking into the others."
"Then we'll look into them together," Sam said.
"You're not pissed?"
"I'm pissed, you're pissed, but let's face it. We might be brothers, but we're also grown men. So I vote we get over it and move on."
"I can do that, I think, but only if you let me play Zep."
<<< Previous Part:
Part Four: Sailboat in a Bottle
Next Episode: >>>
09x12 Problem Child
Primary Post: 09x11 Mr. In-Between
Primary Post: Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)