Hunter Rising, 10/? (R) Dean, Sam, OC

[skagtrendy1]

Title: Hunter of the Shadows Book 2: Hunter Rising
Genre: Gen (AU)
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Supernatural and it's characters do not belong to me. All original characters do.
Spoilers: Season One and Two, although the exact sequence of events and the circumstances are considerably different.
Summary: Join Sam, Dean and Tobius where we left them in Book 1. This time, they will need to be stronger than ever if they are to survive the coming months.
Authors Notes: Many thanks to Phx for the beta and for her invaluable help and support.

In Honour of Darksupernatural’s birthday.



Chapter Ten

Now…

Tobius is pottering round the room in the background, sorting through what appears to be various medical supplies. But Dean's staring down at Sam, whose still out for the count, with a look on his face that might be described as guilty with a small dose of perplexed.

"I know we were a little hard on him over the microwave food," Dean sighs, reaches over and brushes a hand through Sam's hair. "But I just worry about him. He's so… full on… if you know what I mean. John Winchester once told him he was selfish, but that's not it. Sam just sees where he has to go and decides to get the job done, sometimes without first thinking about how he should get there," Dean turns his gaze back on the camera, and lowers his voice. "That's a pretty dangerous way to live…"

And the watcher can sense it's obvious the poor guy knows what he's talking about.

Then…

Sam?

Sammy?

Can you hear us, pup?

Tobius and I exchanged worried glances when Sam's only answer was a soft mewling noise from between tightly clenched teeth, and it sounded like he was in a good deal of pain. But my heart truly sank when blood began gushing from his nose and ears. His entire body was still shuddering and jerking away like he had a million volts running through him.

I sensed Andy hovering nearby, but paid little attention until I heard Sire speaking softly.

"Andy, get back in the car, child. You'll catch your death out here."

"But… Sam's my friend." Andy sounded so childlike and lost, I almost cried. "I want… need to make sure he's ok…"

"We're looking after him." Sire interrupted, gently but firmly. "Now get in the car and keep warm. You'll be of no use to Sam if you fall ill."

Sad, dejected footsteps trudged away and then came the soft squeak and clunk as the Impala's rear door swung shut.

I liked the kid, sure. But up until that point I hadn't entirely trusted him. That was beginning to change and I no longer thought of him as just Sammy's friend.

He obviously thought the world of my son, and that made him our friend.

Watching Sam's pain racked face, I realised we could use all the friends we could get.

I held Sam tightly in my arms, uncaring of the cold rain. His fingers twitched and jumped with each convulsion, and every harsh grunt of pain tore away at my heart.

C'mon Sam, easy now. I whispered. Please, kiddo, come back to me.

Sire placed a gentle hand on Sam's forehead, and after a few minutes he nodded and let out a shaky breath.

"The convulsions are easing up at last."

I realized he was right. The seizure was slowing, fading, attacking Sam with less fervour, but he was still whimpering like a wounded puppy and shivering with the cold.

"I'll be right back, Dean," Sire squeezed my shoulder.

I didn't even look up, just nodded and carried on staring at Sam's pale face.

Sam… Sammy… try to relax… s'gonna be ok…

A few seconds later, I felt a warm blanket being carefully tucked round us, then strong arms followed, lifting me gently to my feet.

Let's get him comfortable.

Yeah. I think I was going into some kind of shock, or something, 'cos I just couldn't bring myself to let go of Sam, even to lay him down on the rear seat.

Andy seemed to get it, 'cos he wordlessly scooted across, grabbed at Sam's ankles and pulled them into his lap, making room for me. I shot him a grateful nod and snuggled up under the blanket with my son.

Wiping the blood away from Sam's face with my sleeve, I sighed in despair.

There was no debate about carrying on with our journey. We were in the middle of nowhere on a dark road in bad weather that was getting shittier by the minute. Even assuming Sam was fit for a change, which he clearly wasn't, taking refuge in the wilderness was out of the question since it was way too hostile for our still very human companion.

Sam had fallen silent and still by this point, but panted lightly through his mouth. His continued lack of thought projection was worrying me.

Sire?

Hmm?

Tobius was busy checking the car over, just in case. I doubted there was any evidence of tampering, given what Sam had told us right before his seizure, but it was worth a look, I guess.

I decided to speak out loud, for Andy's benefit. Figured the kid deserved that much. "I thought he had more control over these now? Bobby said the pain of the visions would lessen with time. If anything, that looked a damn sight worse!"

"Because," Andy turned his head and stared me straight in the eye. "That wasn't a vision."

I heard Tobius cluck his tongue. "The lad's right. Sam was fighting someone for control over the car…"

"…and whoever it was has some serious TK juice," I finished, nodding tiredly.

Andy frowned. "Jake?"

I was shaking my head at the same time Tobius answered with a firm "No. He might watch us from a distance, and like to toy with us but, from what I've seen of him, a sneak attack like this isn't his style."

Jake seemed the type to confront head on, preferring to taunt and paralyze his foe with their fear just for a little while before striking out.

"One of the other kids, then," Andy bit his lip, thoughtfully, in a manner that vaguely reminded me of Sam.

"Sam said he couldn't find them," Sire informed him.

"Yeah, ok..." replied Andy, digesting that piece of information.

But his voice had trailed off and his eyes narrowed. I realized I was actually holding my breath in anticipation, and felt like a total girl for doing so. But Andy didn't disappoint.

"I think whoever it is has been following us for a while," the kid muttered, "at least since that restaurant. It's someone who can track me."

"Or Sam," I reminded him.

He shook his head. "Don't take this the wrong way, but Sam ain't one of us. His blood is no longer tainted and doesn't... call to us, if you understand me. I doubt that, unless Sam deliberately allowed it, they can actually track him, but if they know he's with someone like me…"

Ohhh yes. That was making a scary kind of sense.

And who would have told one of Azazel's brood that Andy was with us? It was doubtful Jake would have bumped into them and just casually mentioned it. They were just as much in competition with him as Sam, after all.

"Meg." I growled. "The bitch must have known Andy was with us at that motel. She broke the deal!"

"'Fraid not, my son, she kept up her end of the bargain nicely." Tobius slid back behind the steering wheel. "If you recall, she said that she and Azazel would back off from us until Jake was dealt with, but she also slipped in that she couldn't make any promises about the other special children."

Aw Nuts!

She'd kept her word all right, and backed off, but just happened to have told the kids about a certain extra passenger. This was looking more and more complicated all the time.

"It does tell us something, though," Tobius mused, aloud. "Whoever tried to control the car wasn't attempting to kill us. They don't want Sam dead, remember."

"So what were they trying to achieve?" I demanded, anxiously.

"That's easy," said Andy, staring down at Sam. "They were trying to reel him in. I just don't think they expected Sam to be strong enough yet to fight it so hard." He glanced up at me. "Oh, I imagine they know he's powerful, but to fight a TK pull like he just did? That's pretty extraordinary. No wonder it was painful."

"You seem to know a lot about this," said Tobius, though I detected no suspicion in his tone, just curiosity. "Why would it be particularly painful to counter a TK attack?"

"It just seems logical to me," Andy shrugged. "When you TK an object, it's only one thing to concentrate on. But what Sam did tonight? My guess is he'd have concentrated on trying to deflect the attack and trying to bring the car back under control."

"In a thought projection, he also mentioned he couldn't find the culprit…" Tobius trailed off, watching Andy's reaction to that bit of news.

"That might explain the violence of the seizure," Andy said after a pause. He began to explain once he caught our confused expressions.

Whoever it was, knew Sam was looking for them, so they hit out hard and tried to cloak themselves. This in turn became just another problem for Sam to focus on, but by then he was stretched too thin, hence the convulsions, so he shut down any extraneous thoughts and processes, a bit like a computer going into standby to preserve power, in order to concentrate completely on the most important tasks in hand.

This sounded incredibly familiar. At the start of his training back at Bobby's when he went into a weird coma, it was a kind of self-protection. Not quite the same situation I'll grant you, but it was close enough.

And suddenly I got it. Why Sam wasn't responding or waking up.

He was still controlling the car, keeping out potentially harmful interferences.

Sire, turn on the engine but don't touch the pedals or steering wheel.

Tobius nodded in agreement as though the same thing had occurred to him.

I heard the key turn in the ignition, the engine roar to life, a soft clunk as it slipped into gear, and then we were moving off down the road.

I was right! Sam was still listening, but unable to answer.

Sire glanced over at Sam in amazement. "Well, well, well. He really is getting rather good."

But it didn't solve all our problems. Andy could still be traced.

With that sobering thought in mind, the journey continued in silence, with no one sure of what to say. Occasionally, Sam whimpered, as though his complete control over the car was hurting him. I had no doubt it was, and spent most of my time using the techniques Bobby taught us to coax Sam out of his self-induced coma.

It was a full two hours before I got through to him but it wasn't going to help. Basically, he was too busy right then, and could I get back to him later?

I half expected a mechanical voice asking me to please leave a message after the tone…

Something, or someone, suddenly appeared in the headlamps, arms flailing, mouth open, probably screaming. The car jerked sharply, brakes locking up, and the tyres screeched in protest, sliding on the blacktop. As we drew nearer, the object of our ambush was revealed as a young woman with rain soaked shoulder length brown hair, wide, terrified blue eyes, and stood at around four foot nothing. Seriously, I've seen traffic cones taller than this girl.

Sam's forehead scrunched up, and he bared his teeth as he brought the car to a skidding halt, just inches from the newcomer.

Without waiting for us to unbuckle our seatbelts, get out of the car, or, ya know, breathe, she raced around to the driver's side and knocked frantically on the window.

"Please, you've gotta help me!" Her voice, muffled by the glass was shaky either with the cold or fear. Maybe both. She knocked again, until Tobius rolled down the window an inch or two, and eyed the girl with suspicion. "Please! Some guy was chasing me and ran me off the road! My car's totalled and I can't get a signal on my cell phone," she sniffled miserably, scraped rain drenched hair out of her eyes, and gazed at Sire imploringly.

She was cute enough, in a girl next door kind of way, but I had more important things to worry about than hitting on some damp damsel in distress.

Sire stared at her long and hard, eyes narrowed, and fingers tapping the steering wheel in agitation.

I'm not happy about this, Dean, but I can't in all good conscience leave her out here in this weather. Poor girl's frozen.

Yeah, especially if there's someone after her. I replied, warily. And that's kinda what bothers me.

You're thinking Jake?

Maybe. It's a little too much of a coincidence that she's all the way out here tonight.

Quite. She may still be innocent, like Andy. Perhaps doesn't even know what's going on, but…Tobius tapped the wheel one more time. We'll just have to be on our guard.

"Uh… can you hear me at all?" the girl was sounding a little put out and I realized it must have seemed like we were ignoring her. "I mean, I know I'm making noises, and I know I ain't deaf, so are you guys gonna help me, or not?" She moved closer to the window. "Please? I'm wet, cold, hungry, and I'll sleep with all of you in exchange for a decent motel room and a hot bath!" Then her gaze lit on Andy. "Except him. He's too short. I like my men tall."

Andy's mouth fell open and a disgruntled huff emerged, whereas it was all I could do to hide a grin.

Good job Sam was tucked right down, head in my lap and hidden by Sire's seat back, or the girl would've been on his six foot four frame like a Rottweiler in heat.

"That won't be necessary." Tobius, ever the gentleman, got out of the car, and offered the girl his jacket, before ushering her round to the front passenger side. "We're only too pleased to help."

"Aw, thank you!" she sounded genuinely touched by his gesture and, once she was wrapped in the jacket, smiled and offered her hand. "Name's Ava. Ava Wilson."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ava," Sire managed to reply smoothly, in spite of the heavy rain, and gently clasped her hand in his. I noticed that he didn't give his name, and I intended to follow suit.

Just before Tobius opened the door for Ava, I whispered as much to Andy, who nodded in agreement, though I could tell he was still a little annoyed by her 'tall men' comment.

"Don't sweat it, kid. She ain't your type, anyhow," I muttered.

"Huh," Andy replied, sadly. "Yeah, I prefer blonds."

Damn. He was obviously thinking about his dead girlfriend. With my attempt at cheering him up shot down in flames, I settled on reaching over and patting his shoulder. Surprisingly, the contact seemed to work, and a small, grateful smile appeared on his face.

The more time I spent with this guy, the more I realized werebear lore and culture would surely suit him, and somehow I didn't think he'd take as much convincing as I'd first thought.

It wasn't until Ava got into the car that Andy started fidgeting, nervously. I frowned at him, silently asking him what was wrong, but he just shook his head.

"Not in front of her," he mouthed back, and that set my instincts instantly on high alert.

Ava finally caught sight of Sam and her eyes widened ever so slightly.

"He ok? He looks sick," she asked, concern sounding genuine.

"Yeah, he's not been feeling well these last few days," I answered with an easy smile, then shrugged casually. "Man flu. Ya know?"

"Uhuh," Ava rolled those pretty blues and laughed softly. "Yeah, I got one of those at home right now! All he does is sniff, sneeze, and complain his soup's too cold, or the electric blanket ain't warm enough…"

We let her drone on, pretending to listen attentively, but meanwhile…

Sire, I don't think Andy's all that comfortable with our new travelling companion.

Tobius merely glanced at me via the off side mirror and gave a very slight nod.

"So, Ava," Sire spoke up, interrupting as politely as possible, whilst waiting for Sam to put the car in gear. "Where is your stricken car?"

Ava shivered. "Brrrrr. S'cold," then pointed out her window. "Down there, in that ditch. Damn thing's stuck in the mud. Ugh! S'gonna take one hell of a tow truck to dig it out!"

Instantly, the car shifted into reverse gear, backed up slowly, then turned, headlamps picking out the ditch.

The first thing I noticed were the lack of tyre tracks. The grassy borders were almost awash with mud and rain water, yet there was no sign that another car had even passed this way, let alone gone off the road.

Lying bitch!

As soon as the thought left my head, Ava's door flew open, her seat belt unbuckled itself and, with a loud, indignant squawk, the girl was flung from the car and headlong into the ditch.

It was incredible, like watching one of those James Bond cars with an ejector seat.

But a further shock rendered me speechless when Sam sat bolt upright, wide awake, and eyes glowing brightly.

"Sam? You ok?" I grabbed his arm, but he just shook me off, pushed open my door, leapt over me, and ran out into the rain.

"Sammy!"

He paid me no heed, just strode to the ditch and stared down, presumably at Ava. We couldn't really see from where we were, but that was soon solved when all three of us scrambled from the car and trudged over.

A pair of angry blue eyes glared up at us from a mud caked face. "What in hell was that?" she screamed. "Who are you guys?"

"Oh, I think you already know the answer to that," Sam sounded cool and in control, but I could feel the adrenaline charged vibration running along his shoulders when I stood next to him. "So. What are your skills, huh Ava? TK? Visions?"

Ava shrank back a little, the tears running down her face shifting some of the mud. "I don't know what you're talking about! You're crazy!" her voice shook, mouth wobbling alarmingly.

Sam regarded her with disgust. "Sure you do," he sneered. "Nice ploy by the way. Shame we just ain't that stupid. How long you been tracking us? Since we found Andy? Or the restaurant?"

Ava lowered her head a little in despair, raised her arms out to the sides and let them flop, helplessly. "What ploy? And… tracking you?" she squealed. "Dude! Who are you?"

Sam just shook his head. "Tell us everything you know, and maybe you won't have to ride in the trunk."

"I just wanna go home!" she wailed pathetically and stamped her foot, sending up a spray of mud and recoating her face.

Frankly, she wasn't a bad actress, but none of us was fooled for a second.

So we all just stared the bitch down.

Ava suddenly huffed, shrugged, and wiped away tears and mud from her face. "I guess you guys are too good, huh? Meg warned us, but none of us thought…" another shrug. "Ah well…"

Both hands reached up to her temples and began rubbing small circles into her skin, but her eyes remained fixed on Sam. "I don't want to hurt you, Sam, or your family."

"Then don't." Sam replied, shortly.

Ava smiled. It was friendly, almost sisterly, like they shared an important bond, which I guess was at least true at one time. And that was when it started getting weird, like Greek tragedy weird.

"There's so much more for you to learn, Sam," the girl beckoned him. "So much for you to look forward to."

Ava took a step towards us, and everything inside me wanted to grab hold of Sam and run.

"A great future as our leader… I'm meant to serve you, Sam. You alone," and with that, she stripped off her clothes and kneeled, naked in the mud, her head bent as if in prayer. "I'm yours… take me."

I was stunned, and there must have been a kind of goofy half smile on my face 'cos Sammy frowned at me.

"Dude!" he whispered, disapprovingly. "Close your mouth!"

Out the corner of my eye, Andy and Tobius were trying hard to keep straight faces but the occasional snigger could still be heard over the torrential rain.

"Huhhhhhh, man!" Was all I could come back with. Ava might have been a special kid with freaky psychic powers, and dangerous as all hell, but wow! She was hot!

Those perky breasts, that tight little...

"Get up, and put your damn clothes back on!" Sam barked out, angrily, making me jump. When the girl didn't move, he jumped right down into the ditch, picked up Sire's discarded jacket and threw it in her face. "NOW!"

Ava didn't even flinch, just got back up on her feet, reached out and ran a finger gently down Sam's cheek. "But I'm yours Sam, all yours. I belong to you."

"No you don't!" Sam yelled back. "You don't belong to me or anybody! For God's sake, Ava, think about this! You're not someone's slave to give away as they see fit. You can be free. You just have to make a choice."

The shock that registered on Ava's face soon turned to anger. "How dare you! I was chosen specially, and you have the nerve to turn me away?" her scream became an animal-like roar. "To spurn me? You ungrateful bast…"

I don't like the way this is going, Dean, Tobius warned in my head.

Huh? Girl's gotta a crush on Sammy, that's all, and who can blame her? He's my son, after all.

You don't understand, Dean! That's what makes her so dangerous! Sire insisted. Remember that old saying? Hell hath no fury…

Suddenly, it all made sense… like a woman scorned? Yeah, I hear ya!

I jumped down into the ditch. Sammy, get away from her!

Too late, I found myself face down in a stream of inky black water, mud clogging up my nose and throat, choking me. My head felt weighed down and I couldn't raise it to take a breath. It wouldn't kill me, I knew that well enough, but the feeling of not being able to breathe, of slick, cloying mud filling my lungs induced a panic like no other I'd ever felt before. Thrashing wildly, my clothes now saturated, boots scrabbling heavily against the wet earth, I felt the change take me.

Seams ripped, buttons flew, fur and claws sprouted… and, suddenly, I was free.

Spitting out large mouthfuls of dark muck, I reared up on to my hind legs and shook violently from head to tail, great clods of mud sent flying.

Oh boy, was I ever angry, but not nearly so angry as when I looked up and saw Ava rubbing her temples, eyes half closed… and a fucking demon materialized from the stormy skies.

Sonofabitch!

The damn thing swooped in on Sam in an instant - Jesus was that thing fast! - and raked it's talon-like nails down the kid's gut, tearing his clothes and skin.

Sam howled in pain, the remains of his damp shirt fluttering in the wind, and attempted to fight off another attack. I leapt at the same time as Tobius, my Sire also having completed a speedy change, but another foul swoop from the demon sent Sam to his knees.

Ava backed away, tripping over her own bare feet and using the demon as a shield, but a soft whirring noise, like a small helicopter rota, swept through the ditch. What appeared to be a crow bar in full spin flew down from above and sliced through the demon, dissipating it into wispy grey threads. It finished its journey by burying itself in Ava's chest with a wet slurp.

Ava stared down at the iron rod protruding from her body, then slowly raised her head to glare at the top of the ditch. I followed her gaze to someone standing right on the edge.

Andy tried to glare back, and would have made a better job of it if he hadn't been shaking so badly. But, with a scowl and a derisive snort, he made sure he had the last word.

"Too short, my ass!"

I guessed it would be a while before the kid let that one go.

Ava's eyes rolled back in her head, and she expired with a sigh, her body falling face down in the stream. Soft hair fanned out, mixing with the fresh blood, and her head bobbed like a cork in the water.

"Uh… guys?" I heard Sam gasp out behind me. "Little help here?"

I spun around and splashed back to his side, my large paws slipping and sliding in the mud and rain, hindering my movements and the urgent need to get to my son.

Sire was already there, curling round Sam's body, keeping him warm.

It's bad Dean, but at least it wasn't made of silver. Once we get him patched up, he should heal quickly.

I instantly saw what he was driving at. Hard to miss it, in fact.

Sam's guts were on display for all to see, thick, purple tubes of gastrointestinal tract, pulsing and leaking blood at an alarming rate.

Jesus!

"Sss'okkk," Sam slurred out, eyes blinking slowly as fatigue and his injuries caught up with him. "T-Tobius is right. I'll heal."

"Here, let me." Andy appeared beside us, pale and sick looking, and carrying the first aid kit from the trunk. Before I could change form he nodded at me. "You keep him warm. I can deal with this."

But it seemed that wasn't all we were needed for. Sam, overcome by shock and blood loss, pitched forward, and would have joined Ava in the mud if it weren't for me pressing my large snout under his chin and holding him upright.

"Ok…" Andy rummaged through the kit, and I could hear him swallowing convulsively, as though trying not to be sick.

I whined softly and gazed at him, trying to convey a question.

"I-I'm ok," he whispered, shakily. "This is… uh… just a little higher on the grossometer scale than I'm used to."

Not to mention having just kebabbed a young woman with a tyre iron. I mean, Andy's taken a life before, his twin brother in fact and saving Sammy in the process, but it ain't something you just get used to.

A few seconds more and Andy was shaking his head in despair. "I can't see a damn thing out here. I know roughly what to do, but Sam needs to be warm and dry. This isn't going to work."

"I-I can…" Sam panted, awake again and not surprisingly. The pain must have been unbearable, but I understood he was talking out loud for Andy's benefit. "I-I c-can g-get b-back up to the t-top. J-just n-need a little help."

Atta boy, Sam. I soothed. You're gonna be ok, little brotherson.

The smile on Sam's pale, almost bloodless face was weak, but I took it as a positive sign.

Tobius changed instantly, and moved over to the former Ava Wilson. Grabbing his jacket from her limp grasp, the only surviving item of the night's clothing, he wrung out all the water and cleaned off the mud as best he could.

"Help me wrap this around Sam's middle. This should help hold his guts in place," Sire ordered and, after I followed up with my own change, we got to work.

Sam grunted in pain and passed out. That was just from wrapping his stomach. So you can only imagine how hard the journey back up and out of the ditch proved to be. By the time we made it, Sire's jacket was a ruined, bloodstained mess.

Aw Sammy, I whispered in his mind, feeling the intense pain and fear trying to drown him. Why's it always you, huh? Always scaring the shit outta me.

S-sorry, Dean. I guess I just wasn't fast enough…

Dude, don't apologize, ok? Sam?

He'd passed out again.

Chapter Eleven