Part 1 Echoes of Mercy. Chapter 1
She had been running for ever. One foot in front of the other, again and again and again. Ignoring the weak drizzly rain, ignoring the darkness, ignoring the fear, ignoring the ominous lack of people in the streets, ignoring the shape of the moon and its all pervasive light despite the fitful clouds, the moon which was making its seductive siren call to them, ignoring anything which tried to impinge on her determination to get to safety.
She couldn't tell anymore if the pounding she heard was the sound of the boots of the hunting pack hitting the concrete behind her or the terrified beat of her own heart as she ran, desperately holding on to the beloved child who was whimpering in her arms.
They were quiet, no loud noises, totally focused on the chase, totally focused on her, she knew she was fast, and had stamina, it was a necessary part of the life they led, the ability and sheer stubborn need to go on and on and on in the face of adversity until something happened to relieve it.
But she was being hunted by Sentinels, men and women who could out run God and out stubborn igneous rock so how was she still ahead of them? Why hadn't they run her to ground already? It was almost as if they were careful with her because of the child she was carrying in her arms but that meant those bastards had compassion and she knew they didn't. They were unfeeling monsters and she would not submit, she would not let them get their hands on her little brother and she would never become one of their so called guides, their pretty little name for a sentinel slave.
Whatever the reason for their restraint, she wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth, she would just take any break she could get and try to stay ahead of them.
So tired now but she was so close, she was so close, she could see the building ahead, just through this last alley and across the road, and she would be there, and Cas, her darling Cas, her little brother would be safe. There would be people to help him and he would be safe.
She couldn't think of anything else, she mustn't think of anything else, she had to stay focused on the goal, the prize. She couldn't think of what would happen if she was caught on a hunt night, she had to get him to the building there was no other option.
Pounding, thudding, her legs were so tired, her arms so tired, she blinked the fatigue and treacherous tears away from her eyes. Castiel must be safe, he must be safe.
She was out of the alley, and across the road, darting through the pedestrian entrance to the main parking lot. The small entrance would give them a problem, she knew, there would be confusion, milling around, they would have to fight or wait to get through. Please god they would be distracted from the pair of them for enough time for her to get into the building.
Despite her fear and exhaustion, she was instinctively still trying to work all the angles to their advantage.
Her desperate single minded focus on the building ahead meant that she missed the fact that more of the pack had joined the hunt; that the black uniformed figures were now coming at her from all sides drawn like bees to honey.
It was the hunters' moon but when the clouds obscured the stars and the moonlight, there was barely any illumination in the dark parking lot and the building she was heading for loomed like a beacon in a black desert. She had to slow down trying to weave through the cars until there was open space and then she tried a burst of speed, Lord her legs were so weak she didn't know how she was standing upright, let alone running for dear life.
She was nearly there, so nearly there, another hundred yards on her trembling pounding legs and she could get him to safety and medical help, they would both be safe, out of the deserted streets, not subject to the rules of the hunt, away from the chasing pack of sentinels.
But it might as well have been a hundred years away for all the good it did them as the hunting pack closed the circle around her and her precious boy.
She made no sound, she had no breath left in her to make a sound, but they could all hear the frantic racing of her heart born from the sheer physical exertion and the overwhelming fear of the chase. They could hear the gasping breaths she drew into her oxygen starved lungs. They could hear, smell and see her terror as she skidded to a halt, stumbled and fell to her knees on the wet ground in disbelief, still desperately clinging on to the precious bundle in her arms.
Castiel whimpered louder and pressed his hot little face into her cold neck. The burning heat pouring off him branded her cold wet skin where he nestled against her. No, she mustn't stay down, that would be showing weakness, proving she really was prey.
("Never show weakness, never, not to them or they will gobble you up and spit you out" Ruby's bitter mantra echoed through her head, Ruby the dark haired red lipped streetwise knife wielding tough kid who had shown her how to survive on the streets, after finding her being beaten by a local gang "The Demons" for being on their turf, who had looked after Gabrielle and Castiel until they had had to move on again).
She had to get up and remain standing; she would not be on her knees in front of these monsters.
She put one hand out, down onto the wet gritty ground, refusing to think about what she could be touching as she struggled to her feet. As she rose unsteadily, her gaze swiftly ran over the figures encircling her, not stopping to make eye contact, but horrified at the sheer physical size of most of the group surrounding her.
They were bloody huge and her eyes widened in despair, a quiet whimper left her lips before she could restrain it. Stop it stop it, show no fear. Don't be prey her frantic thoughts struggled with her instinctive need to stay down, submit to them, to give in.
She saw them all react to the whimper, taking an instinctive step towards her as she struggled upright, and she tensed. Closing the circle had made her feel claustrophobic, defenceless and so alone.
She swayed with exhaustion but she wouldn't give in, she wouldn't stay down, she had to get him to the hospital, she had to. She didn't care how big these buggers were, she thought with desperate bravado.
She wiped her wet hand on her clothes, and then tightened her grip on the little one as she turned in a circle trying to find a way passed them, through them, Dear God above them or under them, anything.
Her brain raced with mad desperate thoughts. Why didn't she have actual wings instead of the mocking tattoo that adorned her left shoulder? If only they were real she could just fly the pair of them away and never have to worry about Sentinels or hunters ever again.
There had to be a way out of this. If she couldn't do it physically maybe she could convince them to let her take her sick little brother to the hospital. She refused to acknowledge the pain of remembrance those particular words had flung at her, she still missed Uriel, her darling sweet big brother Uri so much.
She just had to think, to find the way to get them to open this circle up. She was so tired but she just had to think. It was her wits which kept them free, allowed them to survive the life they lead, knowing when to run and when it was safe to stay a while.
She could con, blag and trick her way into or out of most situations. It was her only weapon, using her clever mind, angelic features, sweet voice and youth, making her the perfect trickster, one she had honed to keep her little brother safe and stay one step ahead of those chasing them. People, safe secure ordinary normal people underestimated her; dangerous, bad people didn't see her as a threat. She just tried to slip under their radar with her little brother.
She was so close to safety and medical help for Castiel. Words, she needed to try words, they weren't in frenzy yet, perhaps they would listen to her if she could find the right words. Not just words, the right persona for them to dismiss her as not a guide prospect.
She had never tried to lie to Sentinels before, she had never dared, they could always tell, they could see the physical results of someone trying to lie, which was why they made such good cops, the faster heart rate, the beading sweat were all giveaways to a Sentinel, so it would be an interesting experiment wouldn't it, as she had been running afraid with those hounds of hell sentinels chasing they be able to tell that she was lying? When she played young dumb and scared. Not that was so far from the truth right now, she could kick herself for her stupidity and she was bloody scared.
The young part was stretching it a bit, but she had used the young teenager scam successfully and it was the young part which was going to save their hides tonight if she could pull it off as there were rules on age limits for the capture of unbonded guides during hunt nights.
Please, please dear father above let there not be any powerful empathic guides with this group or she and her plan were sunk.
She kept her head down and made herself look smaller, defenceless, and then pitched her voice a little higher so it came out breathless, young and scared.
"'m sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run but you scared me and my brother needs a doctor. Please, don't hurt us, please we have no money, Our Pa didn't leave us any money I swear, I just got to take my little brother to the free clinic cos he's real sick. Please don't hurt us" she whimpered, distorting her accent, letting her very real fear of the situation rise to the surface to add depth to her words.
Fear was fear right, and she would use what she had to try to get free.
One of the sentinels to the side called out not unkindly "Why were you running from us kid?" She lifted her head to respond, and they could see her white, fear filled face.
"Scared" she almost whispered "Don't know why you chased us, got no money I swear." She was mixing truth and lies, please god let it work, let there be enough doubt in their minds that they would let her and her little brother go.
There was some disbelieving snorts and rumblings from the group around her and before they could say anything else, she continued in that low timid voice as if she was afraid of their reaction, which still wasn't so far from the truth, she was bloody terrified of their reaction
"Pa said Cascade is dangerous, gang dangerous and we weren't to leave the digs until he came back but Cas is sick and I have to get him to a doctor"
She allowed her voice to fade out. And Castiel whimpered in pain. Fear flared again for her little brother, God she needed to get him to that clinic. It was so bloody close and they were just keeping her here. Being held in her arms in the cold and rainy night wasn't going to make him better anytime soon. She could literally feel his temperature rising.
"Are you telling us that you didn't know it's a hunt night and that we are Sentinels" scoffed another disbelieving hard voice.
She was still distracted by Castiel as she responded, and suddenly anger kicked in, subsuming her fear and making her sound even more like a kid.
"Why would Sentinels chase us ? My brother's sick. You scared us both, you are still scaring us. Is that what you do for fun in this godforsaken place? And how would I know its hunt night, we are only passing through."
For a few appalled seconds she thought she had blown it, but no-on seemed to want to challenge her version of events.
But she had more important things to worry about, her shouting had made her little brother shudder and moan.
She looked down at his beloved face and then deliberately dialled down her fear and rage; predators were attracted to fear, she had to try to get them to think straight and do the right thing and let them go. After all she thought with a sneer, Sentinels had a reputation to maintain as the good guys didn't they even if they were monsters.
So she tried to project conciliatory reason and calm.
"Please" she begged quietly, her voice and posture screaming defeated weariness "he needs a Doctor, please"
AN: First Supernatural Fic. Set in the Sentinel universe. Bit of a challenge
Would be grateful for comments, none of this is canon, its all AU, but would appreciate any insight on the characters.. Ta Muchly...also apologies, British writer here so may not be using the right terminology !
The title comes from Fanny J Crosby
"Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love"
Part 1 Echoes of Mercy
Part 2 Whispers of Love
Two fabulous stories inspired this on AO3: Dolimar's "Moonhunt" and Stella's "Moonrise"
Disclaimers: No infringement intended, belongs to the ones they belong to...
Just playing in their worlds, and it is such fun.
