Fic: Second Chances (Chapter 1)
Title: Second Chances
Authors: princess_schez and gidgetgal9
Rating: PG-15; language, violence, sexual situations, AU. Also, does contain some spoilers for S4, even if the fic is AU.
Fandom: Charmed/Supernatural
Summary: A chance encounter and a spike in demonic activity reunite the Halliwells and the Winchesters in the future… with dire consequences.
Beta: My friend Lisa.
Characters: Sam and Dean Winchester; Bobby Singer; Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda Halliwell; Ruby; Lilith; Castiel; Anna; Cole Turner; Lenore
Disclaimer: We own nothing from either Charmed or Supernatural. Everything belongs to their respective owners. We're merely having fun with them.
The Road So Far: This is a sequel to the fic, Witches, Demons and Hunters - Oh My! It is recommended to read that story first, just so you’ll know what is transpiring here.
Chapter 1
Sixty-six seals on the door, sixty-six seals to go.
You take one down and break it to pieces,
Sixty-five seals left on the door.
The song and the voice - sung in such an eerie childish way - sounded vaguely familiar to her as it replayed itself over and over, the number counting down with each section of the song, until her dream ended with fiery erruption. Melinda awoke with a start, her heart hammering in her chest.
What the hell was that all about? she wondered as she rolled over in bed. She glanced over at her clock; it read 3:30 a.m. Sighing, she decided then and there that that was the last time she would ever eat anything overly sugary before going to bed. That could be the only explanation for such a bizarre dream.
-0-
Weeks had passed, and Melinda soon forgot about the strange dream and that eerily familiar voice. Fourth of July was just a few days away, and Melinda, her brothers, and their cousins had been "volunteered" to help their mother decorate P3 for the holiday.
"If there is anything I hate more than demons, it’s this," Melinda sighed, holding up a string of tangled lights. "There is absolutely no hope for these lights. From. Hell!"
"Here, let me help," Penny said, sitting on the floor next to her. Grateful, Melinda handed over one end of the lights to her cousin, and together, the two girls worked to untangle them. "Lights are like boyfriends: They're difficult to unravel, and they never work when you need them to."
Melinda looked up, sensing some hostility in her cousin’s voice. "Let me guess, you broke up with Adam again?"
Penny looked disgusted. "Guys our age are such pigs; it’s disgusting." Throwing the lights aside, she scooted closer to Melinda. "Say, what happened with you and Nick? Seemed like everything was going great between you two."
Melinda groaned. "Yeah, well, it was going great until I found out he was a demon and was only using me to kill me and my family." Now it was her turn to look disgusted.
"No way!"
"Yeah. I couldn’t wait to vanquish his sorry ass…"
"Pity," sighed Penny. "He was kinda cute. Why in the name of everything sacred are all the cute guys pigs, or worse, demons?"
"They all aren’t," Melinda said, before she could stop herself. She just had an image of Sam Winchester. It was strange; she hadn’t thought about him in a while….
"You mean, like, Sam?" As soon as the name left her mouth, Penny was hit with a painful realization. "Oh my God, how insensitive am I? I’m sorry I brought him up." She looked sincerely apologetic toward her cousin.
"No, no, it’s okay. I’m okay with it… with us. If you could call it that." Melinda shrugged as she worked on a particularly difficult knot in the string.
Silence passed between them, and Penny, picking the lights back up once more, decided to change the subject. "Hey, have you seen or heard anything weird lately?"
Melinda looked around P3: Chris and Wyatt were orbing crepe paper all across the length of the building as her Aunt Paige yelled at them about the risks of personal gain. Her mother was yelling at someone on the phone over something or other, her Uncle Coop has just appeared out of nowhere, and her other cousins were having some kind of magical battle off in the far corner.
"You mean weirder than normal?" she asked in mock innocence.
Penny cracked a smile, but her face took on a serious look. "I overheard Aunt Paige saying that the underworld seems to be getting more active lately, and the Elders are really concerned."
"Wouldn't surprise me they're concerned. I mean, anytime the underworld is getting active, all hell eventually seems to break loose."
Her cousin pulled even closer to Melinda; their knees were now touching. "Has your mom seemed worried lately?"
"No. Why? We haven't been attacked by any demons in a while."
"Well, I asked Aunt Paige about what I heard, and she said there were some recent killings - or some kind of sacrifice - of newborn babies and -"
"What?" Melinda cut in, looking aghast. "Who would do such a thing? That's just... wrong!"
"I know, totally wrong," Penny agreed, "but the Elders told her it resembled some really strange occurrences that took place some years back. Whatever it was, it stopped suddenly, and the Elders fear that whatever had caused those events is starting back up again."
"What were some of the other strange occurrences?" asked Melinda. After hearing about newborn babies being sacrificed, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.
"She didn't say. She got called away."
Melinda sat in silence, thinking over what Penny had just told her. She was in such deep thought that she didn't even hear Chris come over to take the now-untangled string of lights off their hands.
-0-
It was midnight, and Melinda was up in the attic, The Book of Shadows opened in her lap. Her conversation with Penny had stuck with her the entire night, and after not being able to get to sleep she decided to head up to the attic to do some research. But after flipping through most of the book, she hadn’t found much out. No demon listed mentioned anything about child sacrifice. And any that might have, were already vanquished. Just the thought of it made her stomach churn.
Frustrated and tired, Melinda made it to the end of the book. Her heart plummeted down further into her stomach when she saw the last page.
The page showed an image of three men - Sam and Dean Winchester and Bobby Singer - under the title of Hunters.
"Hunters are mortals who kill supernatural evil," she read. "Though they are generally good beings, they are questionable when it concerns witches. Approach with caution!"
Melinda’s brow furrowed. Why was this the first time she’d ever seen this page?
She sighed. Though she tried hard to, it was like fate wouldn't let her forget Sam; it just wouldn’t seem to allow that.
Closing the book, she pushed Sam and the Hunters page out of her mind and decided in the morning to ask Chris or Wyatt if they’d heard anything from the Elders concerning what Penny had told her.
-0-
Dean was finishing up a transmission for old man Sanders when he noticed Bobby walking his way. After moving in with Bobby and taking over the Savage Yard, Dean had also opened a mechanic shop that helped pay a few bills. He kept it pretty low key and it worked well for him that way.
It hurt Dean to see how slow Bobby was taking his steps. It just drove home that they weren't getting any younger and one day it would be just him and Sam.
“Boy, you get that transmission work done?” Bobby asked as he leaned up against the old truck Dean had been working on.
“Yes sir, that pain in the ass Sanders should be happy. If not well he can kiss my butt.” Dean smirked.
“He is an old bastard but at least he's loyal. I'm sure he'll be happy. Uh, Dean you got a moment for me?” Bobby looked nervously towards the house as he spoke.
“Sure, is Sam up yet? He had a rough night.” Dean hated to watch his brother suffer at night if it wasn't nightmares then it was from physical pain like last night. Sam had needed his pain meds in order to sleep.
“Nah, the kid's asleep, and I left him be. I got a call a few minutes ago from Joshua. Seems there's been an increase in demon activity in the area. He wanted to give us the heads up and wondered if you'd do some checking with him when he gets to town?” Bobby held his body tense waiting for the answer.
“Hell no, you know that Bobby. I'm done with demon hunting. If there's a local ghosty causing a few problems, you can count me in to help but I'm not risking my neck when it comes to demons anymore.”
Dean bristled at the thought. He and Sam had put their lives on the line to stop Lilith and what did they have to show for it? Dean almost lost Sam and now had to watch his brother suffer each day ever since.
Bobby nodded and gave a sympathetic smile. “Figured as much, but with the activity being close we should keep an eye out. Check our protection and that sort of thing. Josh also mentioned maybe having Sam do some research but I told him...”
“You told him no right?” Dean growled out. His little brother didn't need reminding of demons and that they were close, that could send Sam into a tailspin.
“Yep, as I was gonna say, I told him no. I was wondering though, since we need to be on our toes, maybe we should tell Sam?” Bobby had a hesitant look.
Dean shook his head no. “Sam doesn't need to have to think about it. It'll only cause him problems and...”
Movement out of the corner of his eyes, caused Dean to stop. Sam had slipped up on them in his wheelchair and was now staring at them from behind one of the wrecks in the yard.
“Hey Sam, you sneaked up on us.” Dean replied with a smile in place.
“I wanted to check on a part for a customer. So, now what is it that I don't need to think about?” Sam was wearing his patented bitchface and Dean knew he was going to have to do some fancy dancing to get away from the subject of demons.
Bobby seemed to be onboard as he spoke first. “So Sam, how ya feeling this morning?”
Sam turned and glared at the older hunter. “Just peachy as you can see! My damaged hip is so tight I can hardly put weight on it so I'm stuck in the wheelchair today. So now that we're done talking about my health I'd like an answer to my question.”
“Sam there was some news from Josh and I think it's best if Bobby and I handle it.” Dean decided to go with honesty and just hoped that Sam would let things go.
“I know your guys think I'm fragile, that I'll break but I'm an adult and I'd like to be treated as such. My nightmares are gonna be there no matter what. You can't protect me from the evil in the world, I've already been touched by it.” Sam rubbed his hand across the three deep scars on his cheek, and water pooled in his eyes.
“Sam I don't think you're fragile. Damn it if you're not the strongest person I know! You're a fighter and I'm so proud of you. Most people faced with what you've had to deal with would have either ended up locked away in the mental hospital or ended it. But not you, you've face everything head on, I'm not sure I'd have held up as well.” Dean went over and laid a hand on his brother's shoulder.
Bobby cleared his throat. “Dean's right Sam. We don't think of you as some fragile object. It's just that you've been through enough. We all have and it's time that we just let others take care of the evil in the world.”
Sam wiped at his eyes. “So we have news on demons?”
Dean sighed. “Damn it if you aren't the most stubborn son-of- a-bitch, I've ever dealt with. You're the reason my hairs turning gray, you know that right?”
Sam chuckled. “Yep, and you're the reason I have gray temples myself. Now stop avoiding the question Dean!”
It was Bobby's turn to chuckle. “You boys are the reason I'm gray, I'm just glad I haven't lost any hair worrying over you two. So Dean, I think we should tell him.”
Dean gripped Sam's shoulder tight and then lowered himself so that he was face to face with Sam. “Josh called. There is demon activity in the area. He's heading this way to check it out and he wanted me to join him.”
Dean watched as Sam sucked in a breath and turned pale. “Dean you're not...”
Dean gave Sam a reassuring smile. “No, I'm not gonna hunt demons. I promised you that a long time ago. We're done hunting demons. But, he also asked if you'd do some research, and Bobby told him no but really it's not our place to make that decision.”
Sam glared at Dean. “No it's not. I can research for Josh. It wouldn't be the first time.”
Dean huffed and stood up. “No it's not the first time, and it won't be the first time that you've had nightmares afterwards. I hate what that does to you.”
Sam nodded. “I know but it's worth it. In the end it gives me a feeling of self worth. I need that.”
“I get that Sammy, I do. I just don't like to see you hurt.” Dean replied softly.
Bobby snorted. “If we're done with this chick flick moment, I'd like to get a start on checking our protection.”
Dean smiled. “Yeah, I guess we need to make sure we're demon safe. The panic room probably needs stocking.”
Sam returned the smile. “And I guess I have some research to get to.”
The fact that there were demons to face again really sucked but Dean figured that the three of them made a damn fine team. If it came down to it, they would be safe. Dean would make sure of it.
Chapter 2...
Previous Chapters
Prologue
Authors: princess_schez and gidgetgal9
Rating: PG-15; language, violence, sexual situations, AU. Also, does contain some spoilers for S4, even if the fic is AU.
Fandom: Charmed/Supernatural
Summary: A chance encounter and a spike in demonic activity reunite the Halliwells and the Winchesters in the future… with dire consequences.
Beta: My friend Lisa.
Characters: Sam and Dean Winchester; Bobby Singer; Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda Halliwell; Ruby; Lilith; Castiel; Anna; Cole Turner; Lenore
Disclaimer: We own nothing from either Charmed or Supernatural. Everything belongs to their respective owners. We're merely having fun with them.
The Road So Far: This is a sequel to the fic, Witches, Demons and Hunters - Oh My! It is recommended to read that story first, just so you’ll know what is transpiring here.
Chapter 1
Sixty-six seals on the door, sixty-six seals to go.
You take one down and break it to pieces,
Sixty-five seals left on the door.
The song and the voice - sung in such an eerie childish way - sounded vaguely familiar to her as it replayed itself over and over, the number counting down with each section of the song, until her dream ended with fiery erruption. Melinda awoke with a start, her heart hammering in her chest.
What the hell was that all about? she wondered as she rolled over in bed. She glanced over at her clock; it read 3:30 a.m. Sighing, she decided then and there that that was the last time she would ever eat anything overly sugary before going to bed. That could be the only explanation for such a bizarre dream.
-0-
Weeks had passed, and Melinda soon forgot about the strange dream and that eerily familiar voice. Fourth of July was just a few days away, and Melinda, her brothers, and their cousins had been "volunteered" to help their mother decorate P3 for the holiday.
"If there is anything I hate more than demons, it’s this," Melinda sighed, holding up a string of tangled lights. "There is absolutely no hope for these lights. From. Hell!"
"Here, let me help," Penny said, sitting on the floor next to her. Grateful, Melinda handed over one end of the lights to her cousin, and together, the two girls worked to untangle them. "Lights are like boyfriends: They're difficult to unravel, and they never work when you need them to."
Melinda looked up, sensing some hostility in her cousin’s voice. "Let me guess, you broke up with Adam again?"
Penny looked disgusted. "Guys our age are such pigs; it’s disgusting." Throwing the lights aside, she scooted closer to Melinda. "Say, what happened with you and Nick? Seemed like everything was going great between you two."
Melinda groaned. "Yeah, well, it was going great until I found out he was a demon and was only using me to kill me and my family." Now it was her turn to look disgusted.
"No way!"
"Yeah. I couldn’t wait to vanquish his sorry ass…"
"Pity," sighed Penny. "He was kinda cute. Why in the name of everything sacred are all the cute guys pigs, or worse, demons?"
"They all aren’t," Melinda said, before she could stop herself. She just had an image of Sam Winchester. It was strange; she hadn’t thought about him in a while….
"You mean, like, Sam?" As soon as the name left her mouth, Penny was hit with a painful realization. "Oh my God, how insensitive am I? I’m sorry I brought him up." She looked sincerely apologetic toward her cousin.
"No, no, it’s okay. I’m okay with it… with us. If you could call it that." Melinda shrugged as she worked on a particularly difficult knot in the string.
Silence passed between them, and Penny, picking the lights back up once more, decided to change the subject. "Hey, have you seen or heard anything weird lately?"
Melinda looked around P3: Chris and Wyatt were orbing crepe paper all across the length of the building as her Aunt Paige yelled at them about the risks of personal gain. Her mother was yelling at someone on the phone over something or other, her Uncle Coop has just appeared out of nowhere, and her other cousins were having some kind of magical battle off in the far corner.
"You mean weirder than normal?" she asked in mock innocence.
Penny cracked a smile, but her face took on a serious look. "I overheard Aunt Paige saying that the underworld seems to be getting more active lately, and the Elders are really concerned."
"Wouldn't surprise me they're concerned. I mean, anytime the underworld is getting active, all hell eventually seems to break loose."
Her cousin pulled even closer to Melinda; their knees were now touching. "Has your mom seemed worried lately?"
"No. Why? We haven't been attacked by any demons in a while."
"Well, I asked Aunt Paige about what I heard, and she said there were some recent killings - or some kind of sacrifice - of newborn babies and -"
"What?" Melinda cut in, looking aghast. "Who would do such a thing? That's just... wrong!"
"I know, totally wrong," Penny agreed, "but the Elders told her it resembled some really strange occurrences that took place some years back. Whatever it was, it stopped suddenly, and the Elders fear that whatever had caused those events is starting back up again."
"What were some of the other strange occurrences?" asked Melinda. After hearing about newborn babies being sacrificed, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.
"She didn't say. She got called away."
Melinda sat in silence, thinking over what Penny had just told her. She was in such deep thought that she didn't even hear Chris come over to take the now-untangled string of lights off their hands.
-0-
It was midnight, and Melinda was up in the attic, The Book of Shadows opened in her lap. Her conversation with Penny had stuck with her the entire night, and after not being able to get to sleep she decided to head up to the attic to do some research. But after flipping through most of the book, she hadn’t found much out. No demon listed mentioned anything about child sacrifice. And any that might have, were already vanquished. Just the thought of it made her stomach churn.
Frustrated and tired, Melinda made it to the end of the book. Her heart plummeted down further into her stomach when she saw the last page.
The page showed an image of three men - Sam and Dean Winchester and Bobby Singer - under the title of Hunters.
"Hunters are mortals who kill supernatural evil," she read. "Though they are generally good beings, they are questionable when it concerns witches. Approach with caution!"
Melinda’s brow furrowed. Why was this the first time she’d ever seen this page?
She sighed. Though she tried hard to, it was like fate wouldn't let her forget Sam; it just wouldn’t seem to allow that.
Closing the book, she pushed Sam and the Hunters page out of her mind and decided in the morning to ask Chris or Wyatt if they’d heard anything from the Elders concerning what Penny had told her.
-0-
Dean was finishing up a transmission for old man Sanders when he noticed Bobby walking his way. After moving in with Bobby and taking over the Savage Yard, Dean had also opened a mechanic shop that helped pay a few bills. He kept it pretty low key and it worked well for him that way.
It hurt Dean to see how slow Bobby was taking his steps. It just drove home that they weren't getting any younger and one day it would be just him and Sam.
“Boy, you get that transmission work done?” Bobby asked as he leaned up against the old truck Dean had been working on.
“Yes sir, that pain in the ass Sanders should be happy. If not well he can kiss my butt.” Dean smirked.
“He is an old bastard but at least he's loyal. I'm sure he'll be happy. Uh, Dean you got a moment for me?” Bobby looked nervously towards the house as he spoke.
“Sure, is Sam up yet? He had a rough night.” Dean hated to watch his brother suffer at night if it wasn't nightmares then it was from physical pain like last night. Sam had needed his pain meds in order to sleep.
“Nah, the kid's asleep, and I left him be. I got a call a few minutes ago from Joshua. Seems there's been an increase in demon activity in the area. He wanted to give us the heads up and wondered if you'd do some checking with him when he gets to town?” Bobby held his body tense waiting for the answer.
“Hell no, you know that Bobby. I'm done with demon hunting. If there's a local ghosty causing a few problems, you can count me in to help but I'm not risking my neck when it comes to demons anymore.”
Dean bristled at the thought. He and Sam had put their lives on the line to stop Lilith and what did they have to show for it? Dean almost lost Sam and now had to watch his brother suffer each day ever since.
Bobby nodded and gave a sympathetic smile. “Figured as much, but with the activity being close we should keep an eye out. Check our protection and that sort of thing. Josh also mentioned maybe having Sam do some research but I told him...”
“You told him no right?” Dean growled out. His little brother didn't need reminding of demons and that they were close, that could send Sam into a tailspin.
“Yep, as I was gonna say, I told him no. I was wondering though, since we need to be on our toes, maybe we should tell Sam?” Bobby had a hesitant look.
Dean shook his head no. “Sam doesn't need to have to think about it. It'll only cause him problems and...”
Movement out of the corner of his eyes, caused Dean to stop. Sam had slipped up on them in his wheelchair and was now staring at them from behind one of the wrecks in the yard.
“Hey Sam, you sneaked up on us.” Dean replied with a smile in place.
“I wanted to check on a part for a customer. So, now what is it that I don't need to think about?” Sam was wearing his patented bitchface and Dean knew he was going to have to do some fancy dancing to get away from the subject of demons.
Bobby seemed to be onboard as he spoke first. “So Sam, how ya feeling this morning?”
Sam turned and glared at the older hunter. “Just peachy as you can see! My damaged hip is so tight I can hardly put weight on it so I'm stuck in the wheelchair today. So now that we're done talking about my health I'd like an answer to my question.”
“Sam there was some news from Josh and I think it's best if Bobby and I handle it.” Dean decided to go with honesty and just hoped that Sam would let things go.
“I know your guys think I'm fragile, that I'll break but I'm an adult and I'd like to be treated as such. My nightmares are gonna be there no matter what. You can't protect me from the evil in the world, I've already been touched by it.” Sam rubbed his hand across the three deep scars on his cheek, and water pooled in his eyes.
“Sam I don't think you're fragile. Damn it if you're not the strongest person I know! You're a fighter and I'm so proud of you. Most people faced with what you've had to deal with would have either ended up locked away in the mental hospital or ended it. But not you, you've face everything head on, I'm not sure I'd have held up as well.” Dean went over and laid a hand on his brother's shoulder.
Bobby cleared his throat. “Dean's right Sam. We don't think of you as some fragile object. It's just that you've been through enough. We all have and it's time that we just let others take care of the evil in the world.”
Sam wiped at his eyes. “So we have news on demons?”
Dean sighed. “Damn it if you aren't the most stubborn son-of- a-bitch, I've ever dealt with. You're the reason my hairs turning gray, you know that right?”
Sam chuckled. “Yep, and you're the reason I have gray temples myself. Now stop avoiding the question Dean!”
It was Bobby's turn to chuckle. “You boys are the reason I'm gray, I'm just glad I haven't lost any hair worrying over you two. So Dean, I think we should tell him.”
Dean gripped Sam's shoulder tight and then lowered himself so that he was face to face with Sam. “Josh called. There is demon activity in the area. He's heading this way to check it out and he wanted me to join him.”
Dean watched as Sam sucked in a breath and turned pale. “Dean you're not...”
Dean gave Sam a reassuring smile. “No, I'm not gonna hunt demons. I promised you that a long time ago. We're done hunting demons. But, he also asked if you'd do some research, and Bobby told him no but really it's not our place to make that decision.”
Sam glared at Dean. “No it's not. I can research for Josh. It wouldn't be the first time.”
Dean huffed and stood up. “No it's not the first time, and it won't be the first time that you've had nightmares afterwards. I hate what that does to you.”
Sam nodded. “I know but it's worth it. In the end it gives me a feeling of self worth. I need that.”
“I get that Sammy, I do. I just don't like to see you hurt.” Dean replied softly.
Bobby snorted. “If we're done with this chick flick moment, I'd like to get a start on checking our protection.”
Dean smiled. “Yeah, I guess we need to make sure we're demon safe. The panic room probably needs stocking.”
Sam returned the smile. “And I guess I have some research to get to.”
The fact that there were demons to face again really sucked but Dean figured that the three of them made a damn fine team. If it came down to it, they would be safe. Dean would make sure of it.
Chapter 2...
Previous Chapters
Prologue