Owl to John Winchester

[my_soul_itches]

Dear Mr. Winchester,

Hi! I'm Megan Gwynn. I don't know if you remember me, we met in your Sorting. I'm the one with wings. (And if you met more than one person with wings, I'm the one with pink hair.) I think you must be settled by now, so I was hoping to get some lessons on those Devil Trap things you were talking about for your bribe. I

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[sgt_hunter]

He read over the letter and grinned to himself. It wasn't easy to forget a teenager with pink hair and wings, much less the fact that she all but yelled at him about talking to Sammy. Now that his family and extended family were all back to their normal ages and speaking to each other, he could spare the time. Besides, a deal was a deal.

John collected a few additional supplies before owling her back and heading out.

Meet me in the common room if you're free now. It shouldn't take long. Just bring the chalk, you won't need any equipment.
JW

[sgt_hunter]

John caught her arm. "No, it's ok. You didn't know. It was part of a deal I made to save the boys. Dean got to live and take care of Sammy. I don't regret it. I didn't regret it for one second while I was down there."

He picked up the chalk, and it took a monumental effort to keep his hand from shaking. "Now let's go over the basics, ok?"

[my_soul_itches]

She could understand that--her troubles had all started with a deal, too. Her soul to save her friends. It had just got... complicated.

"Okay," she said, landing, still skittish and eyes still wide. "Basics. Right."

[sgt_hunter]

Life with complications. The Winchester way.

For the next two hours, John went over the basics : Enochian warding symbols, how to build a proper protection circle, demonic traps, he kept it simple, but had her repeat everything back a few times until he was sure she had it down.

He wiped the circle clean and sat back on his heels. "Ok kid. Let's see what you can do."

[my_soul_itches]

Megan's head hurt. It was all necessary stuff, very practical and useful and every time her attention started to wander she could just think about the N'Garai or Saturnine or any of the other creeps who had come after her and suddenly she was back and focused again.

But it was a lot to remember.

She glanced up a few times, did her best to keep it all straight in her mind, and hesitantly made her own attempt. It was... not great. "Huh," she said, frowning down at it after a while. "I don't think it's supposed to look like that, is it?"

[sgt_hunter]

John gave her an encouraging smile and reached out to edit a few minor mistakes. "It's a good first try. Here, flip these two around, this line needs to be straight, the squiggle needs to be over here."

"I.. I talked to Sam," he said as he edited the few wards. "I think we're on our way to getting to a good place."

[my_soul_itches]

"Oh, good." She smiled, genuinely relieved and happy, wings fluttering a little for emphasis. "That's excellent. I got kind of worried, see, since I got a little, um, snippy. I don't have the best relationship with my Mum, so I really shouldn't--anyway, let me try again." She wiped it away, dusting herself off as well, before trying again, tongue sticking out a little in concentration.

[sgt_hunter]

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Sammy and I haven't always had what you would call an ideal father-son relationship. We're not exactly back to where we outghta be, but I guess we've got time."

John sat back and watched her work, resisting the urge to correct her as she went. He was curious about her own relationship with her mother, but John had never been one to pry. When she finished he smiled. "There you go. Better. Now try it again. You need to be able to put these together quickly sometimes."

[my_soul_itches]

"I kind of got that," she said, embarrassed. "But time here's funny, so... yeah, you do!" Assuming nobody got popped, or anything weird like that, like sometimes happened. At least they could come back from that! Not that death was all that permanent where she came from sometimes when it was plot-required, so you think she would be used to it, but hey!

She beamed. "This kind of thing is so much easier with a, y'know, nice teacher." And without the hanging upside-down thing. And with better scenery, and constant reminders of Hurry up, your friends are going to die, doesn't that mean anything to you? Megan wiped the surface off again, frowned, and tried it a little quicker this time. There was still a lot to remember, and her attempt at quick was still slow compared to someone actually experienced, but she caught her own mistakes this time.

[sgt_hunter]

Death, trips to hell, same difference in the Winchester world!

John chuckled at her. He had been called a lot of things in his life, but it had been a damn long time since "nice" had been part of that list. Maybe he was finally starting to mellow a little now that the demon was dead and his boys were safe.

"Much better. That trap will handle most anything to come out of the Pit. Now let me show you the big guns." He took the chalk and drew a much larger circle, the runes and wards far more intricate this time around. He worked quickly, efficently and when he was done, John took a handful of salt and muttered an incantation. As the salt pattered on the circle, the runes blazed brilliantly before dimming.

"Now that," he said, "is part protection, part trap. The salt warns the demon in big neon letters to stay away. If they're stupid enough to continue, they aren't gonna get far."

[my_soul_itches]

In Megan's book so far, there were few shades of gray. Nice people helped her, or her friends, or at least weren't nasty when they inevitably told her to shut up. Mean people tried to hurt and/or kill her and her friends. The ones who had done neither could potentially be nice, and she treated them as such until the situation changed. Some of the nice people were also scary, but were still friends of a sort, like Magneto or Laura. It was a simple system.

She watched the glowing runes with interest. Not only did they look cool, but it was a sign that something was working, which was to her mind better than just doodling something and hoping for the best. "Awesome," she breathed, then frowned a little. "Why salt, exactly? I mean, it's just salt. It's not, like, a magic powder or anything." Still, she walked around it, trying to set in her mind what went where.

[sgt_hunter]

"It's a purifying agent," he explained. "It cleanses an area of a demonic or dark spiritual taint. Same way silver is more than just metal to them. Everything we have out here," John poiinted at the table, "is all meant to clean out the darkness. Salt, silver, holy water. And if it doesn't drive 'em away," he winked at Megan, "it'll hurt like hell and make them think twice."

"Ok. Let's run through these symbols. Right to left.."

[my_soul_itches]

"Oh!" She wondered, briefly, if she should maybe eat more salt. Would that help her at all? No, that was just stupid, and would taste horrible, and would lead to health problems down the road if other stuff didn't get her first.

She flashed a grin back at Mister Winchester. "I think I can live with that." It wasn't that she liked hurting people, but demons weren't people, and it was only fair after they hurt her first, wasn't it? And they'd only do worse if they got to her before she got to them. This was just evening the odds, that was all

[sgt_hunter]

John made a mental note to swing by Bobby's later and snag another rune book or two. Megan was quick and he could probably show her a few handy offensive traps or warding bags to go along with the defensive circles. He nodded as she completed the next circle and the runes flared as she connected the final line. "Even better this time around," he said, offering a little encouragement.

His expression softened at her offer. How long had it been since he had just sat down with the boys over a meal that wasn't at some roadside? He honestly couldn't remember. "I'd like that, Megan. Thank you. I'll let the boys know and you can just tell us when you'd like us over?"

[my_soul_itches]

She kept from flying up because hey, salt, but still did a little victory dance on the ground. Oh yeah, she was awesome. The victory dance may have included a chant of, "I'm awesome, I'm awesome," under her breath, as well, to that effect.

She paused mid-happydance. "Really? You're not just--oh, that'd be great!" Salt forgotten, she flew up in the air in excitement. Belatedly, she remembered Sam mentioning someone else, except she had forgotten the name, and she added, "Friends are okay, too. Just let me know, like, a day or two ahead of time, I guess? So I'll know how much to fix? And if anyone has any allergies. Or just doesn't like some kind of food. Any time is fine, I'm not really a busy person, so this is really no problem. Really, the more the merrier or whatever."