Lessons Learned, Part 1, Supernatural, Keeper!Verse, PG-13
Fandom: Supernatural, Keeper!Verse
Title: Lessons Learned, Part 1 (All Keeper Verse Here)
Rating: PG-13 (for this partl)
Word Count: 19,000 (total)
Pairings/Characters: Sam/Dean (long term established wincest), John, Dana (Dean's daughter), Scott (OMC), OCs
Summary: As the second semester of freshman year begins, Dana comes face to face with situations that will alter her life. There's a new professor who isn't what she expects, a new roommate, Scott on campus, her father's ongoing nightmares and a predator that even Dana doesn't see coming.
A/Ns & Warnings: This story pics up shortly after Finally Home. There are four parts (I think), almost complete. I will be posting them over the next few days. There is some angst and some schloomp and Dana learning a few lessons, and a little bit of sex and a whole lot of schloomp at the end. As ever in Keeper!verse, thanks go to shotofjack for the beta of awesome and for keeping me sane. *loves*
“Is that everything?” Dana asked, as her father dropped a box on the bed.
“Think so. Scott’s bringing up his bed stuff.”
Dana nodded and went back to organizing the little refrigerator. She’d picked up the essentials for any dorm room on her way over, making sure she bought Scott’s favorite soda and some of the honey-smoked turkey that she thought was disgusting, but he ate by the pound.
Not that she was trying to influence him or anything. She just wanted this semester to be better than the last. Not that she knew what had actually happened…still. Months after the fact.
Stop obsessing. Sam’s voice pushed past the endless rambling in her brain and she glanced up. Sam was helping Scott into the room with his oversized and worn out comforter. And button up, you’re leaking out all over the place.
She sighed and pulled herself back in. She wasn’t trying to be obsessive. But Scott…he wouldn’t tell her what had happened at Stanford, and neither would Sam…and most infuriatingly, neither would her father. And, Scott still wanted to “see other people” even though he hadn’t dated a single girl since he got back, making Dana feel deeply guilty if she even checked out at a guy.
Dana. Now, Sam was exasperated.
She rolled her eyes. “I got a class. I should go.”
“Thanks for the help.” Scott called, all amiable and friend-like. She sighed again. She was tired of having a Scott-shaped friend. She wanted her Scott-shaped boyfriend back.
But it beat his cold, silent treatment when he first came back. She kissed her father’s cheek, then Sam’s and headed out of the dorm, to her own room and her books. She sighed repeatedly.
Sam wanted her to be patient. To be supportive and friendly. To be understanding. She wondered if he remembered who he was talking to. Dana could be supportive and friendly and even understanding…to a degree. But patient was not a Winchester virtue. Patience was a waste of time, even her Papa agreed with that.
Still, she wasn’t going to win him back by being overbearing. That she knew. So, she was friendly. They talked, but there was no flirting. No touching. And to top it off, she’d sworn off the party-girl thing because it was getting too hard to keep track of which guy was which, and she was always deadly afraid she’d be making out with some guy and Scott would see.
Because she was pretty sure…really, pretty sure, that Scott was the guy she wanted to have forever…the guy who would be her Sam. It ached inside her when she had to sit across from Scott at the dinner table while her father and Sam snuggled together, all quiet flirtation and unspoken language.
It was only worse since the whole wedding thing.
But, now that school was starting it would be easier. They had two classes together, which meant they could study and share notes, and if that lead to…more…well, she was more than ready.
Her new roommate was a nice girl, no slutty little tart like the last one. Dana waved as she looked up from her desk. “Settled in?”
“I think so.”
“Good. I’m off to statistics class. Maybe we can do coffee later, get to know each other?”
She smiled, pushing her glasses up. “I’d like that.”
Big improvement. Dana pulled the door shut and checked her watch. They had a new professor for the Intro to Statistics class, and the buzz from the math geeks was that he was a hottie.
She hadn’t read the material, but that generally wasn’t a problem. She’d just skim it off someone as she needed it. She headed for the math building, her mind firmly on Scott, rather than statistics.
Most of the students taking seats around her were sophomores, but she knew some of them. She smiled at Andrea Gallows, but Andrea was still miffed over a thing with Michael Barinowski and she brushed past Dana, sniffing disdainfully.
Dana rolled her eyes and scanned the rest of the class. She spotted the teacher as he came in and sat up straight. The math geeks were right. Total hottie.
He wasn’t as tall as she was, but he had dark curly hair and dark eyes.
“All right class, let’s get started. This is Intro to Statistics and I am Professor George Jacobs. This is my first semester here. We will be covering the basics of statistics and statistical analysis in this class, which will form the building block for many of your classes to come. I am tough, but fair.”
Dana let his words wash over her, but zoned out a little. She’d get his story later, if she needed to. She shifted her butt and her attention when he shifted out of introduction into actual material, and started asking questions. Her mind reached out around her, grabbing on to bits of information and processing it…until she reached for his.
What she found wasn’t free-floating knowledge, but walls. She blinked and realized he was looking at her.
And you are?
She swallowed and looked around her. She snapped her security walls firmly into place. Dana Winchester. She ran a quick check on her defenses, locked them down.
He nodded and continued talking, his eyes wandering over the rest of the class. See me after class. And don’t try that again.
Dana took a deep breath and tried to refocus. He’d caught her off guard. She hadn’t even sensed him. That was unlike her. Missouri had said she’d gotten lazy. Dana had sloughed it off as trying to be more casual.
She sat up straight and tried to follow the lecture, feeling each and every time his eyes touched her. A flush of embarrassment crept up her neck, and onto her cheeks. She had never been so grateful for a class to end in her life, and even though she wanted to slink away in the crowd of her classmates, she inhaled and forced the panic down and waited. When the room was clear, she stood up and gathered her things, descending to stand beside his desk.
He looked up, then at the door, which swung closed. Dana stared. She hadn’t felt a thing. Nothing.
“Ms. Winchester, I assume we won’t have a repeat of that in my class room?”
She opened her mouth, but couldn’t find the words to say. “I…Professor…I can explain…”
He smiled, and damn if that didn’t just make him cuter. “No need, Ms. Winchester. I understand completely. I was once your age myself, after all. As talented as you are, it must be terribly tempting.”
“You…I didn’t even feel you…when you came in the room, I mean.” Dana finally said, hugging her books to her.
“No, because unlike some, I don’t wear my gifts where anyone can see them. It brings trouble.” He raised an eyebrow. “Something I’m sure you’re familiar with.” He closed his book and stood. “Now then, keep your gifts in check, apply yourself, and you should do well in my class.”
He left her standing there, still stunned, still hugging her books to her. She stared at him, watched him walk away. She’d never met another adept who could so completely hide from her. Not like that.
It was a little frightening. And exciting.
She headed for her dorm, and nearly half way there it dawned on her that she was going to have to actually study. Especially if this first class was a good indication of the pace he planned to keep. And, she was already playing catch up. She groaned. So far the new year was turning rapidly to crap.
Sam dropped Dean at the garage and headed home. The house was empty, but for the dogs. Quiet. Not that it had been overly loud with Scott there. Scott stayed pretty much to himself, but with Scott there, Sam had felt constrained by the kid’s discomfort with anything psychic or supernatural. He’d wanted to force Dean to deal with whatever was causing the nightmares. Yet, he knew it would be a struggle, both mentally and emotionally, and Scott had been through so much, Sam figured he could do with a taste of something normal.
Everyone was relieved though, three days before Christmas, when the school had called to say that they had a room for him. Sam got the distinct impression that Dana had something to do with it, judging by her smug attitude when the call came in, but he was too grateful to call her on it.
He sighed as he opened the door and was greeted by the ever-growing and rambunctious puppy. Dean’s dog was damn high maintenance. He yipped and danced until Sam pointed to the back door and then he went running, sending the hallway carpet flying at Sam.
Sam got the door open and Remmy raced out into the yard. He shook his head, watching the dog stop to pee, only to be distracted by a butterfly and take off chasing it. No wonder the damn dog always smelled like pee.
Sam sank into one of the chairs and considered Dana. Truth was, he’d let a lot of stuff slide. She’d seemed to get very serious right after Bellius. Then two weeks later, when Scott came home, she seemed to lose focus. Her defenses were all over the place, her thoughts leaking like a sieve, and she seemed monumentally distracted. Then there was her growing obsession with regaining Scott’s affection.
A lot of that, he knew, was his fault. He had spoiled her in an epic manner. Never really made her work for a thing. Disciplined only the worst trangressions Perhaps, worst of all, looked the other way when her ethical choices weren’t squeaky clean. After all, it wasn’t like he had the best track record in that regard.
But now…He sighed again. Aristotle padded out the open back door and sat beside him, her head on his knee. Maybe it was time to go back to formalized training. They could set aside a few nights a month to work on her discipline. Make her stronger. Work with her on all the new things he’d learned from Ally and Inda.
“And, I just have to figure out what to do about Dean, Ari.” Sam said, scratching her head. At the mention of Dean’s name, Remmy looked up from his ball, his eyes looking around the yard for his master. Sam shook his head. The dog had a one track ‘Dean’ mind.
He had a few hours before Dean came home. He figured he’d start with a nice dinner. Dean was always more reasonable with food in his stomach.
Dean stifled another yawn, then set aside the tool in his hand, standing upright and stretching. It had been such a long time since he’d spent anything close to a whole day at the garage. Even longer since the last time he actually slept for more than a few hours without the help of sleeping pills. He’d taken to waiting until Sam was asleep, then slipping down to the living room, watching TV until he couldn’t keep his eyes open, hoping he’d be tired enough to sleep without the damn dreams.
“You sleep at all last night?” his father’s rumbling voice asked behind him and Dean sighed.
“Sam talks too much.”
“Don’t need Sam to tell me you ain’t sleeping.”
Dean walked away from his father. He did not want to be having this conversation. “I’m fine. I’m going to need to order parts for this.” He waved his hand at the car.
“It doesn’t need parts, Dean. It needs a mechanic who is actually awake to work on it.” He was following Dean into the office. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing. I said I was fine.”
“Sam doesn’t agree.”
“Like I said, Sam talks too much.”
“He’s worried about you.”
Dean growled and rubbed his face. “I said I was fine.”
“And I heard what you said.”
Dean turned sharply. “You’re one to talk.”
John straightened up and looked at him. “What does that mean?”
Dean waved a hand at him. “The back, the headaches. You going to tell me you’re taking care of yourself?”
“I’m old Dean. It’s just hard living, catching up to me.”
Dean snorted. “Yeah, I guess I can say the same.”
John’s face softened. “Let me finish the Chrysler. Go home, get some sleep. Enjoy your empty nest.”
He was tired. He sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
It was bitter cold. Of course, it was January. It was supposed to be cold. But Dana had been cold to the bone since the thing with Professor Jacobs. By the time she arrived back at the dorm, she’d been distracted and fumbly and almost backed out of coffee with Becca, the new roomy. She could see the look in her eyes though, and caved.
They spent an hour at the coffee shop, chatting about classes and various stuff. Curiously the topic never really strayed to boys, even though Dana mentioned Scott more than once, and Becca asked if Scott was Dana’s boyfriend…but Dana didn’t even know how to answer that question, and left it with, “Well, it’s complicated.”
Dana had to head to the library. Two days into classes and she already had a research thing to do and, worse than that, she was supposed to work with a partner.
After meeting said partner, Joey Malroney, she knew her luck was improving. He was both smart and efficient, so the whole process ended up pretty simple and painless. They’d divided the assignment, discussed basics and got to work.
Her phone buzzed against her hip as she was packing up to head back to her room. She frowned at it, surprised to see Scott’s number. She flipped it open as she waved goodbye to Joey and headed out of the library, pulling her coat on and shivering a little in the cold. It had gotten dark while she worked. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He hesitated, his breath vibrating against her ear. “You left your sweater here.”
“I did?” She didn’t remember having a sweater on.
“Either that or it got put in one of my boxes. Either way it’s here.”
“I’m just leaving the library. You going to be there?”
“Yeah, got a ton of work.”
“Me too.” She veered off the main path onto the jogging trail that ran through the grove and toward the dorm buildings. “This has been the suckiest day. I want to pop a big bowl of popcorn and watch some stupid movie and vegetate in my pajamas…but I have a ton of reading to do.”
Scott snorted at her. “You? Since when?”
“Hush. I read.”
“Yeah, trashy romance novels and those true crime things and those scary things in the closet. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen you actually read a school book. You look shit up, that isn’t the same.”
It felt nice…talking. Just talking. About nothing. His voice was honey sweet in her ear. She sighed a little.
“New professor.” Dana said. She was nearly to the grove. The temperature was dropping and she stopped, propping the phone against her shoulder as she zippered her jacket and tightened her hood. “Can’t skate by this time.”
“Wow.” Scott didn’t elaborate.
Dana rolled her eyes. “I’m half way to you. Just going into the Grove.”
It was oddly dark and as she reached the first light post, she figured out why. There was no light. “Hmm…odd.”
“What?” She could hear something in his voice change, tighten.
“Nothing. Lights are out.” She kept moving, but something was not quite right. She could feel it. “It’s really dark.”
“You’re right, I can’t even see the path.” Scott said. “I have a clear shot from my window. Send up a flair so I can see you.”
She sighed. “Scott. I can’t do that.”
“No one will see.”
She rolled her eyes, but was touched that he was concerned. “Okay, but only a quick one.” She looked around her quickly, and created a little orb of light, launching it skyward.
“I see it.”
“You can be such a geek.” Dana chuckled and started forward again, then froze. Not quite right became very wrong, very quickly.
“Dana?”
“Scott?” He sounded like he was at the end of a tunnel and the dark deepened. Taking a disoriented step forward, everything suddenly shut down around her. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. Her senses were gone. Everything.
“Scott!” She could feel her scream tearing at her throat, but couldn’t hear a sound. She could barely feel the phone in her hand. “Scott!”
She turned. Held her hands out. Tried to find her way out of…well, she didn’t know. It was worse than any dampening field. It was worse than when Sam had first cut off their connection. At least then she could still feel and see.
Dana stumbled. Her hand hit something and the phone scattered. The world tilted. Hands. Those were hands. She screamed and flailed, not really controlling her body. Panic flooded her as she went down. She screamed for Scott, for Sam, for Dad, for Papa. Then there was a heavy weight on top of her and she couldn’t breathe.
Sam poured another glass of wine before retaking his seat.
“Not that I don’t appreciate it, but what’s with the china and stuff?” Dean asked, polishing off his steak.
“We’re celebrating.” Sam replied. “The house is ours, you’re mine. I’m yours. And we have the rest of our lives to enjoy it.”
Dean was eyeing him suspiciously, his thoughts surging over the connection to dig out the truth. Sam reached for his hand, then froze, pushing Dean away physically as well as mentally. He steadied himself on the table and stood, panting as the pain ripped through him.
“Dana.” He reached for her, reached for the panicked thought thrown his way, but she was…gone. Just emptiness. “Oh, god. Dean. Car.” He was half way to the door before Dean caught him, steadying him.
“What is it?” Dean was tight lipped, but not pushing to get into Sam’s head.
“Don’t know. Drive. Fast.”
Scott squinted into the Grove as Dana’s voice faltered. With the first scream, he yelled into the phone, heading out at a dead run. “Come on Dana, talk to me!”
He skidded around the corner and down the stairs. “Dana!” Dana didn’t scream. Not like that. Not like she was terrified.
The phone went dead and he thumbed the button that dialed Dean. “Where is she?” Dean asked.
“Grove. She’s in the middle of the grove.” Scott yelled, running down the jogging path as fast as his feet would take him. “She’s in trouble.”
“We’re coming.”
“Not fast enough.” Scott raced toward the place where he’d seen the light. It was darker in the trees, like something had sucked all the light away.
He felt her, more than saw her or heard her at first. Something dark was on top of her, holding her down.
“NO!” Scott screamed and launched himself at them, his shoulder slamming into the dark figure and sending them both hurtling away. A foot connected with his groin and Scott yelled, scrambling to try to get his hands on the man, but he slipped through Scott’s hands and took off running.
Scott crawled back to Dana. Dean’s voice was yelling at him through the phone he’d dropped beside her. “Scott! Damn you, answer me.”
The dark was starting to lift. Her face was bloody, her clothes disheveled, torn.
Scott lifted the phone in a shaking hand. “I’ve got her. I found her. Oh, god.”
He sat beside her. “Dana?” He swallowed dry. “Dana…can you hear me?” He brushed a shaking hand over her forehead, over a bloody cheek. “My god, Dana.”
“Where are you.” Dean’s voice was shaky, frightened.
“G-grove…between the dorms and the student union. Half…half way.” Scott’s heart pounded. “It got away. I tried…”
“We’re almost there Scott. Stay with her.”
“She’s out cold. She’s…she screamed…” Dana stirred, her whole body jerking. Her head turned and Scott could see a bloody knot at the back of her head. He reached for it, then thought better of it. Now he understood why she wanted to study medicine. He felt so helpless sitting there beside her.
“Dana!” Dean’s voice echoed through the phone and the trees.
“Over here!” Scott shouted, just as Sam and Dean came into view. “He…it… he…that way.” He pointed off the way the man-thing had run. Dean skidded to his knees while Sam took off down the path.
“Dana. Dana, talk to me.” Dean lifted her shoulders and slid in under her, wiping at the blood on her face. She groaned and flailed. “It’s Dad, Dana. I’ve got you.”
Sam came running back, panting. “She…I don’t think she can feel you Dean.” He fell to his knees beside them, grabbing her hand and closing her eyes.
“What do you mean?” Dean looked at him, but Sam was obviously busy and didn’t respond. “Sam!”
His eyes opened. “She’s…okay…Broken nose, wrist, maybe ribs…She’s…shut down. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He reached for Dean’s hand. “We need to get her to a hospital, but she’ll be okay.”
Title: Lessons Learned, Part 1 (All Keeper Verse Here)
Rating: PG-13 (for this partl)
Word Count: 19,000 (total)
Pairings/Characters: Sam/Dean (long term established wincest), John, Dana (Dean's daughter), Scott (OMC), OCs
Summary: As the second semester of freshman year begins, Dana comes face to face with situations that will alter her life. There's a new professor who isn't what she expects, a new roommate, Scott on campus, her father's ongoing nightmares and a predator that even Dana doesn't see coming.
A/Ns & Warnings: This story pics up shortly after Finally Home. There are four parts (I think), almost complete. I will be posting them over the next few days. There is some angst and some schloomp and Dana learning a few lessons, and a little bit of sex and a whole lot of schloomp at the end. As ever in Keeper!verse, thanks go to shotofjack for the beta of awesome and for keeping me sane. *loves*
“Is that everything?” Dana asked, as her father dropped a box on the bed.
“Think so. Scott’s bringing up his bed stuff.”
Dana nodded and went back to organizing the little refrigerator. She’d picked up the essentials for any dorm room on her way over, making sure she bought Scott’s favorite soda and some of the honey-smoked turkey that she thought was disgusting, but he ate by the pound.
Not that she was trying to influence him or anything. She just wanted this semester to be better than the last. Not that she knew what had actually happened…still. Months after the fact.
Stop obsessing. Sam’s voice pushed past the endless rambling in her brain and she glanced up. Sam was helping Scott into the room with his oversized and worn out comforter. And button up, you’re leaking out all over the place.
She sighed and pulled herself back in. She wasn’t trying to be obsessive. But Scott…he wouldn’t tell her what had happened at Stanford, and neither would Sam…and most infuriatingly, neither would her father. And, Scott still wanted to “see other people” even though he hadn’t dated a single girl since he got back, making Dana feel deeply guilty if she even checked out at a guy.
Dana. Now, Sam was exasperated.
She rolled her eyes. “I got a class. I should go.”
“Thanks for the help.” Scott called, all amiable and friend-like. She sighed again. She was tired of having a Scott-shaped friend. She wanted her Scott-shaped boyfriend back.
But it beat his cold, silent treatment when he first came back. She kissed her father’s cheek, then Sam’s and headed out of the dorm, to her own room and her books. She sighed repeatedly.
Sam wanted her to be patient. To be supportive and friendly. To be understanding. She wondered if he remembered who he was talking to. Dana could be supportive and friendly and even understanding…to a degree. But patient was not a Winchester virtue. Patience was a waste of time, even her Papa agreed with that.
Still, she wasn’t going to win him back by being overbearing. That she knew. So, she was friendly. They talked, but there was no flirting. No touching. And to top it off, she’d sworn off the party-girl thing because it was getting too hard to keep track of which guy was which, and she was always deadly afraid she’d be making out with some guy and Scott would see.
Because she was pretty sure…really, pretty sure, that Scott was the guy she wanted to have forever…the guy who would be her Sam. It ached inside her when she had to sit across from Scott at the dinner table while her father and Sam snuggled together, all quiet flirtation and unspoken language.
It was only worse since the whole wedding thing.
But, now that school was starting it would be easier. They had two classes together, which meant they could study and share notes, and if that lead to…more…well, she was more than ready.
Her new roommate was a nice girl, no slutty little tart like the last one. Dana waved as she looked up from her desk. “Settled in?”
“I think so.”
“Good. I’m off to statistics class. Maybe we can do coffee later, get to know each other?”
She smiled, pushing her glasses up. “I’d like that.”
Big improvement. Dana pulled the door shut and checked her watch. They had a new professor for the Intro to Statistics class, and the buzz from the math geeks was that he was a hottie.
She hadn’t read the material, but that generally wasn’t a problem. She’d just skim it off someone as she needed it. She headed for the math building, her mind firmly on Scott, rather than statistics.
Most of the students taking seats around her were sophomores, but she knew some of them. She smiled at Andrea Gallows, but Andrea was still miffed over a thing with Michael Barinowski and she brushed past Dana, sniffing disdainfully.
Dana rolled her eyes and scanned the rest of the class. She spotted the teacher as he came in and sat up straight. The math geeks were right. Total hottie.
He wasn’t as tall as she was, but he had dark curly hair and dark eyes.
“All right class, let’s get started. This is Intro to Statistics and I am Professor George Jacobs. This is my first semester here. We will be covering the basics of statistics and statistical analysis in this class, which will form the building block for many of your classes to come. I am tough, but fair.”
Dana let his words wash over her, but zoned out a little. She’d get his story later, if she needed to. She shifted her butt and her attention when he shifted out of introduction into actual material, and started asking questions. Her mind reached out around her, grabbing on to bits of information and processing it…until she reached for his.
What she found wasn’t free-floating knowledge, but walls. She blinked and realized he was looking at her.
And you are?
She swallowed and looked around her. She snapped her security walls firmly into place. Dana Winchester. She ran a quick check on her defenses, locked them down.
He nodded and continued talking, his eyes wandering over the rest of the class. See me after class. And don’t try that again.
Dana took a deep breath and tried to refocus. He’d caught her off guard. She hadn’t even sensed him. That was unlike her. Missouri had said she’d gotten lazy. Dana had sloughed it off as trying to be more casual.
She sat up straight and tried to follow the lecture, feeling each and every time his eyes touched her. A flush of embarrassment crept up her neck, and onto her cheeks. She had never been so grateful for a class to end in her life, and even though she wanted to slink away in the crowd of her classmates, she inhaled and forced the panic down and waited. When the room was clear, she stood up and gathered her things, descending to stand beside his desk.
He looked up, then at the door, which swung closed. Dana stared. She hadn’t felt a thing. Nothing.
“Ms. Winchester, I assume we won’t have a repeat of that in my class room?”
She opened her mouth, but couldn’t find the words to say. “I…Professor…I can explain…”
He smiled, and damn if that didn’t just make him cuter. “No need, Ms. Winchester. I understand completely. I was once your age myself, after all. As talented as you are, it must be terribly tempting.”
“You…I didn’t even feel you…when you came in the room, I mean.” Dana finally said, hugging her books to her.
“No, because unlike some, I don’t wear my gifts where anyone can see them. It brings trouble.” He raised an eyebrow. “Something I’m sure you’re familiar with.” He closed his book and stood. “Now then, keep your gifts in check, apply yourself, and you should do well in my class.”
He left her standing there, still stunned, still hugging her books to her. She stared at him, watched him walk away. She’d never met another adept who could so completely hide from her. Not like that.
It was a little frightening. And exciting.
She headed for her dorm, and nearly half way there it dawned on her that she was going to have to actually study. Especially if this first class was a good indication of the pace he planned to keep. And, she was already playing catch up. She groaned. So far the new year was turning rapidly to crap.
Sam dropped Dean at the garage and headed home. The house was empty, but for the dogs. Quiet. Not that it had been overly loud with Scott there. Scott stayed pretty much to himself, but with Scott there, Sam had felt constrained by the kid’s discomfort with anything psychic or supernatural. He’d wanted to force Dean to deal with whatever was causing the nightmares. Yet, he knew it would be a struggle, both mentally and emotionally, and Scott had been through so much, Sam figured he could do with a taste of something normal.
Everyone was relieved though, three days before Christmas, when the school had called to say that they had a room for him. Sam got the distinct impression that Dana had something to do with it, judging by her smug attitude when the call came in, but he was too grateful to call her on it.
He sighed as he opened the door and was greeted by the ever-growing and rambunctious puppy. Dean’s dog was damn high maintenance. He yipped and danced until Sam pointed to the back door and then he went running, sending the hallway carpet flying at Sam.
Sam got the door open and Remmy raced out into the yard. He shook his head, watching the dog stop to pee, only to be distracted by a butterfly and take off chasing it. No wonder the damn dog always smelled like pee.
Sam sank into one of the chairs and considered Dana. Truth was, he’d let a lot of stuff slide. She’d seemed to get very serious right after Bellius. Then two weeks later, when Scott came home, she seemed to lose focus. Her defenses were all over the place, her thoughts leaking like a sieve, and she seemed monumentally distracted. Then there was her growing obsession with regaining Scott’s affection.
A lot of that, he knew, was his fault. He had spoiled her in an epic manner. Never really made her work for a thing. Disciplined only the worst trangressions Perhaps, worst of all, looked the other way when her ethical choices weren’t squeaky clean. After all, it wasn’t like he had the best track record in that regard.
But now…He sighed again. Aristotle padded out the open back door and sat beside him, her head on his knee. Maybe it was time to go back to formalized training. They could set aside a few nights a month to work on her discipline. Make her stronger. Work with her on all the new things he’d learned from Ally and Inda.
“And, I just have to figure out what to do about Dean, Ari.” Sam said, scratching her head. At the mention of Dean’s name, Remmy looked up from his ball, his eyes looking around the yard for his master. Sam shook his head. The dog had a one track ‘Dean’ mind.
He had a few hours before Dean came home. He figured he’d start with a nice dinner. Dean was always more reasonable with food in his stomach.
Dean stifled another yawn, then set aside the tool in his hand, standing upright and stretching. It had been such a long time since he’d spent anything close to a whole day at the garage. Even longer since the last time he actually slept for more than a few hours without the help of sleeping pills. He’d taken to waiting until Sam was asleep, then slipping down to the living room, watching TV until he couldn’t keep his eyes open, hoping he’d be tired enough to sleep without the damn dreams.
“You sleep at all last night?” his father’s rumbling voice asked behind him and Dean sighed.
“Sam talks too much.”
“Don’t need Sam to tell me you ain’t sleeping.”
Dean walked away from his father. He did not want to be having this conversation. “I’m fine. I’m going to need to order parts for this.” He waved his hand at the car.
“It doesn’t need parts, Dean. It needs a mechanic who is actually awake to work on it.” He was following Dean into the office. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing. I said I was fine.”
“Sam doesn’t agree.”
“Like I said, Sam talks too much.”
“He’s worried about you.”
Dean growled and rubbed his face. “I said I was fine.”
“And I heard what you said.”
Dean turned sharply. “You’re one to talk.”
John straightened up and looked at him. “What does that mean?”
Dean waved a hand at him. “The back, the headaches. You going to tell me you’re taking care of yourself?”
“I’m old Dean. It’s just hard living, catching up to me.”
Dean snorted. “Yeah, I guess I can say the same.”
John’s face softened. “Let me finish the Chrysler. Go home, get some sleep. Enjoy your empty nest.”
He was tired. He sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
It was bitter cold. Of course, it was January. It was supposed to be cold. But Dana had been cold to the bone since the thing with Professor Jacobs. By the time she arrived back at the dorm, she’d been distracted and fumbly and almost backed out of coffee with Becca, the new roomy. She could see the look in her eyes though, and caved.
They spent an hour at the coffee shop, chatting about classes and various stuff. Curiously the topic never really strayed to boys, even though Dana mentioned Scott more than once, and Becca asked if Scott was Dana’s boyfriend…but Dana didn’t even know how to answer that question, and left it with, “Well, it’s complicated.”
Dana had to head to the library. Two days into classes and she already had a research thing to do and, worse than that, she was supposed to work with a partner.
After meeting said partner, Joey Malroney, she knew her luck was improving. He was both smart and efficient, so the whole process ended up pretty simple and painless. They’d divided the assignment, discussed basics and got to work.
Her phone buzzed against her hip as she was packing up to head back to her room. She frowned at it, surprised to see Scott’s number. She flipped it open as she waved goodbye to Joey and headed out of the library, pulling her coat on and shivering a little in the cold. It had gotten dark while she worked. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He hesitated, his breath vibrating against her ear. “You left your sweater here.”
“I did?” She didn’t remember having a sweater on.
“Either that or it got put in one of my boxes. Either way it’s here.”
“I’m just leaving the library. You going to be there?”
“Yeah, got a ton of work.”
“Me too.” She veered off the main path onto the jogging trail that ran through the grove and toward the dorm buildings. “This has been the suckiest day. I want to pop a big bowl of popcorn and watch some stupid movie and vegetate in my pajamas…but I have a ton of reading to do.”
Scott snorted at her. “You? Since when?”
“Hush. I read.”
“Yeah, trashy romance novels and those true crime things and those scary things in the closet. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen you actually read a school book. You look shit up, that isn’t the same.”
It felt nice…talking. Just talking. About nothing. His voice was honey sweet in her ear. She sighed a little.
“New professor.” Dana said. She was nearly to the grove. The temperature was dropping and she stopped, propping the phone against her shoulder as she zippered her jacket and tightened her hood. “Can’t skate by this time.”
“Wow.” Scott didn’t elaborate.
Dana rolled her eyes. “I’m half way to you. Just going into the Grove.”
It was oddly dark and as she reached the first light post, she figured out why. There was no light. “Hmm…odd.”
“What?” She could hear something in his voice change, tighten.
“Nothing. Lights are out.” She kept moving, but something was not quite right. She could feel it. “It’s really dark.”
“You’re right, I can’t even see the path.” Scott said. “I have a clear shot from my window. Send up a flair so I can see you.”
She sighed. “Scott. I can’t do that.”
“No one will see.”
She rolled her eyes, but was touched that he was concerned. “Okay, but only a quick one.” She looked around her quickly, and created a little orb of light, launching it skyward.
“I see it.”
“You can be such a geek.” Dana chuckled and started forward again, then froze. Not quite right became very wrong, very quickly.
“Dana?”
“Scott?” He sounded like he was at the end of a tunnel and the dark deepened. Taking a disoriented step forward, everything suddenly shut down around her. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. Her senses were gone. Everything.
“Scott!” She could feel her scream tearing at her throat, but couldn’t hear a sound. She could barely feel the phone in her hand. “Scott!”
She turned. Held her hands out. Tried to find her way out of…well, she didn’t know. It was worse than any dampening field. It was worse than when Sam had first cut off their connection. At least then she could still feel and see.
Dana stumbled. Her hand hit something and the phone scattered. The world tilted. Hands. Those were hands. She screamed and flailed, not really controlling her body. Panic flooded her as she went down. She screamed for Scott, for Sam, for Dad, for Papa. Then there was a heavy weight on top of her and she couldn’t breathe.
Sam poured another glass of wine before retaking his seat.
“Not that I don’t appreciate it, but what’s with the china and stuff?” Dean asked, polishing off his steak.
“We’re celebrating.” Sam replied. “The house is ours, you’re mine. I’m yours. And we have the rest of our lives to enjoy it.”
Dean was eyeing him suspiciously, his thoughts surging over the connection to dig out the truth. Sam reached for his hand, then froze, pushing Dean away physically as well as mentally. He steadied himself on the table and stood, panting as the pain ripped through him.
“Dana.” He reached for her, reached for the panicked thought thrown his way, but she was…gone. Just emptiness. “Oh, god. Dean. Car.” He was half way to the door before Dean caught him, steadying him.
“What is it?” Dean was tight lipped, but not pushing to get into Sam’s head.
“Don’t know. Drive. Fast.”
Scott squinted into the Grove as Dana’s voice faltered. With the first scream, he yelled into the phone, heading out at a dead run. “Come on Dana, talk to me!”
He skidded around the corner and down the stairs. “Dana!” Dana didn’t scream. Not like that. Not like she was terrified.
The phone went dead and he thumbed the button that dialed Dean. “Where is she?” Dean asked.
“Grove. She’s in the middle of the grove.” Scott yelled, running down the jogging path as fast as his feet would take him. “She’s in trouble.”
“We’re coming.”
“Not fast enough.” Scott raced toward the place where he’d seen the light. It was darker in the trees, like something had sucked all the light away.
He felt her, more than saw her or heard her at first. Something dark was on top of her, holding her down.
“NO!” Scott screamed and launched himself at them, his shoulder slamming into the dark figure and sending them both hurtling away. A foot connected with his groin and Scott yelled, scrambling to try to get his hands on the man, but he slipped through Scott’s hands and took off running.
Scott crawled back to Dana. Dean’s voice was yelling at him through the phone he’d dropped beside her. “Scott! Damn you, answer me.”
The dark was starting to lift. Her face was bloody, her clothes disheveled, torn.
Scott lifted the phone in a shaking hand. “I’ve got her. I found her. Oh, god.”
He sat beside her. “Dana?” He swallowed dry. “Dana…can you hear me?” He brushed a shaking hand over her forehead, over a bloody cheek. “My god, Dana.”
“Where are you.” Dean’s voice was shaky, frightened.
“G-grove…between the dorms and the student union. Half…half way.” Scott’s heart pounded. “It got away. I tried…”
“We’re almost there Scott. Stay with her.”
“She’s out cold. She’s…she screamed…” Dana stirred, her whole body jerking. Her head turned and Scott could see a bloody knot at the back of her head. He reached for it, then thought better of it. Now he understood why she wanted to study medicine. He felt so helpless sitting there beside her.
“Dana!” Dean’s voice echoed through the phone and the trees.
“Over here!” Scott shouted, just as Sam and Dean came into view. “He…it… he…that way.” He pointed off the way the man-thing had run. Dean skidded to his knees while Sam took off down the path.
“Dana. Dana, talk to me.” Dean lifted her shoulders and slid in under her, wiping at the blood on her face. She groaned and flailed. “It’s Dad, Dana. I’ve got you.”
Sam came running back, panting. “She…I don’t think she can feel you Dean.” He fell to his knees beside them, grabbing her hand and closing her eyes.
“What do you mean?” Dean looked at him, but Sam was obviously busy and didn’t respond. “Sam!”
His eyes opened. “She’s…okay…Broken nose, wrist, maybe ribs…She’s…shut down. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He reached for Dean’s hand. “We need to get her to a hospital, but she’ll be okay.”