Supernatural: Devil's Trap
A/N: I return with the first chapter of the final story for the first season, which will be followed by a one-shot, and it'll be time for the Winchesters to go up against the yellow-eyed demon for the first time.
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or from Criminal Minds. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER ONE: THE TRUTH ABOUT MEG
In the warehouse, John's phone ranged several times until 'Meg' picked it up and answered it. "You guys really screwed up this time."
"Where is he?" Dean demanded angrily.
`"You're never gonna see your father again,"` 'Meg' told him cruelly.
Shocked, Dean hung up. "They've got Dad."
"Oh God," Liz moaned fearfully.
"Meg?" Sam asked and Dean nodded sadly. "What'd she say?"
"I just told you, Sammy," Dean said, wiping his eyes, and was trying to calm down. "Okay…okay." He grabbed the Colt from where it was sitting on an end table and put it in his back pocket; he then moved to the bed and grabbed his duffel bag.
Sam and Liz exchanged a confused look. What was going on? "What are you doing, Dean?"
Dean didn't look at them as he made sure that he had everything. "We gotta go."
Okay, now both Sam and Liz were really confused. "Why?"
"Because the demon knows we're in Salvation, all right?" Dean snapped, facing them now. "It knows we've got the Colt, it's got Dad, it's probably comin' for us next." And he pulled on his coat.
"Good," Sam said. "We've still got three bullets left. Let it come."
"Listen, tough guy, we're not ready!" Dean shouted, making his siblings jump. "We don't know how many of 'em are out there. Now, we're no good to anybody dead. We're leaving. Now." And he walked away.
Soon, the Winchesters were speeding down the road.
"I'm tellin' you, Dean, Liz, we could've taken him," Sam said seriously.
Dean ignored him. "What we need is a plan," he said. "Now, they're probably keeping Dad alive, we've just got to figure out where. They'll want to trade him for the gun." And then he noticed Sam shaking his head. "What?"
"Dean, if that was true, why didn't Meg mention a trade?" Sam asked, frowning when Dean didn't respond. "Dad…he might be-"
"Don't!" Dean snapped.
"Dean!" Liz said angrily, smacking the back of his head. "Watch your tone! This isn't the time!"
"Look, I don't want to believe it any more than you," Sam said quickly. "But if he is, all the more reason to kill this damn thing. We still have the Colt. We can still finish the job."
Dean shook his head. "Screw the job, Sam!"
Sam sighed, having forgotten just how stubborn Dean could be. "Dean, I'm just tryin' to do what he would want. He would want us to keep going."
"Would you quit talkin' about him like he's dead already?" Dean pleaded. "Listen to me! Everything stops until we get him back, you understand me? Everything!"
"So, how do we find him?" Liz asked, hoping that their dad was still alive.
"Maybe we go to Lincoln," Dean suggested, calming down a bit. "Start at the warehouse where he was taken."
"Come on, Dean, you really think these demons are gonna leave a trail?" Sam asked, skeptical.
Dean sighed, knowing that Sam was right. "You're right. We need help." And he sped down the road.
It was morning when the Winchesters reached a rundown, dirty house that was surrounded by car parts that have been scattered around the yard; on the hood of a blue pickup truck sat a lazy dog, Rumsfeld.
The Winchesters were inside the house and were talking with Bobby Singer, a family friend. Bobby picked up two identical silver bottles and handed Dean one of them.
"Here ya go."
"What is this?" Dean asked, taking the bottle. "Holy water?"
"That one is," Bobby answered and he held up the second bottle. "This is whiskey." He took a swig and then handed the bottle to Dean, who also drank from it; meanwhile, both Liz and Sam were sitting at a desk, looking through a large book.
"Bobby, thanks," Dean said gratefully, handed back the whiskey bottle. "Thanks for everything. To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if we should come."
Bobby scoffed, taking back the bottle. "Nonsense. Your daddy needs help."
"Yeah, but last time we saw you, you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot," Dean pointed out, recalling the argument. "You cocked the shotgun and everything."
Bobby shrugged. "Yeah, well, what can I say? John just has that effect on people."
Dean chuckled. "Yeah, I guess he does."
"None of that matters now," Bobby said seriously. "All that matters is that you get him back."
"Bobby, this book," Sam said, looking up from a large book that both he and Liz were looking at. "I've never seen anything like it."
"It's amazing," Liz agreed.
Both Bobby and Dean went over to look at it.
""The Key of Solomon"? It's the real deal, all right," Bobby confirmed since he was an expert in performing exorcisms.
Sam pointed to the odd design in the book. "And these protective circles - they really work?" he asked.
"Hell, yeah," Bobby agreed. "You get a demon in one, they're trapped - powerless. It's like a satanic roach motel."
Both Sam and Liz laughed, impressed.
Even Dean was impressed. "The man knows his stuff."
"I'll tell you somethin' else, too – this is some serious crap you all stepped in," Bobby said seriously.
"Yeah? How's that?" Sam asked, exchanging a confused look with Liz and Dean.
Bobby shrugged. "Normal year, I hear, say, three demonic possessions, maybe four, tops."
"Yeah?" Dean asked.
"This year, I've heard of twenty-seven so far," Bobby explained. "You get what I'm sayin'? More and more demons are walkin' among us - a lot more."
"Do you know why?" Liz asked.
"No, but I know it's somethin' big," Bobby explained. "A storm's comin'. And you guys, your daddy - you are smack in the middle of it."
Dean, Liz, and Sam exchanged a look, not liking the sound of that; from outside, they could hear a dog barking.
"Rumsfeld. What is it?" Bobby wondered as he moved to the window and saw that Rumsfeld was no longer sitting on the hood of the pickup truck, and the chain was broken. "Something's wrong."
Suddenly, 'Meg' kicked down the door of the house and walked in; Dean took out the bottle of holy water from his pocket.
"No more crap, okay?" she said coldly, advancing toward the room.
As he unscrewed the bottle, Dean started walking towards her; she hit him and he was flung against the wall, where he collapsed to the floor, unconscious. 'Meg' walked towards Sam, Liz, and Bobby, and they began backing away with Sam standing in front of both Bobby and Liz.
"I want the Colt, Sam," 'Meg' ordered, "the real Colt. Right now."
"We don't have it on us," Sam answered. "We buried it."
"Didn't I say, "No more crap"? I swear, after everything I heard about you Winchesters, I've got to tell you, I'm a little under-whelmed," 'Meg' snarled. "First, Johnny tries to pawn off a fake gun, and then he leaves the real gun with you three chuckleheads. Lackluster, guys. I mean, did you really think I wouldn't find you?"
Just then, Dean came up behind her. "Actually, we were counting on it."
'Meg' turned around to face him; and he looked up at the ceiling; she also looked up and saw one of the protective circles from the book.
Dean smirked as she glared at him. "Gotcha."
A few hours later, they had 'Meg' tied in a chair.
"You know, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask," 'Meg' said, sneering.
The Winchester ignored her; Bobby entered the room and walked over to them, carrying a large salt container.
"I salted the doors and windows," he informed them. "If there are any demons out there, they ain't gettin' in."
They nodded, and Dean got up and went to over to 'Meg'.
"Where's our father, Meg?" he asked.
'Meg' glared at him. "You didn't ask very nice."
"Where's our father, bitch?" Dean repeated.
"Jeez, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" 'Meg' asked sarcastically. "Oh, I forgot. You don't."
Dean leaned in very close, inches away from her face. "Hey, you think this is a friggin' game?!" he growled. "Where is he?! What did you do to him?"
"He died screaming," 'Meg' answered. "I killed him myself." And she gave him a wicked smile. Dean was seething with anger; suddenly, he backhanded her, shocking Sam, Liz, and Bobby.
'Meg' smirked. "That's kind of a turn on - you hitting a girl."
"You're no girl," Dean snarled.
"Dean," Bobby said suddenly.
Scowling at the woman, Dean walked over to talk to him, Liz, and Sam.
"You okay?" Sam asked, concerned.
"She's lying, he's not dead," Dean said coldly.
"Dean, you've got to be careful with her," Bobby cautioned. "Don't hurt her."
"Why?" Dean asked.
Bobby gave him a hard look. "Because she really is a girl, that's why."
"What are you talkin' about?" Sam asked.
"She's possessed," Bobby explained. "That's a human possessed by a demon, can't you tell?" and they looked at 'Meg', who was visibly shaking in her chair.
"You're tryin' to tell me there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?" Dean asked, and Bobby nodded.
Just then, Liz's cell phone rang; embarrassed, she quickly answered it. "Hello?"
`"Hi, Liz!"` said the cheerful voice of Penelope Garcia; she was the technical expert for the BAU team at the FBI. `"Sorry for taking so long since we had a lot of back-to-back cases, but I finally get that info you wanted on one Meg Masters."`
'I forgot I asked Penelope to look up info on Meg.' Liz felt like kicking herself, but kept herself composed. "Hey, Penelope, that's great," she responded. "So what do you have?"
`"Well, you do know that Meg Masters went missing a year ago right?"` Penelope asked.
Liz frowned. "She did?"
`"Yes,"` said the voice of Aaron Hotchner, surprising Liz. `"And frankly, I'm curious as to why you want information on a missing person, Elizabeth."`
Liz sighed. "That's a bit complicated, Agent Hotchner," she said reluctantly while Dean, Sam, and Bobby all gave her inquiring looks. "Listen, Sam and Dean are here with me, along with our friend Bobby Singer, and if you let me put my phone on speaker, we'll be able to explain better."
`"Okay."`
"What's going on, Liz?" Sam asked, curious. "Why are Penelope Garcia and Aaron Hotchner calling you?"
Liz sighed and covered the mouthpiece of her phone. "Back when we were in Chicago, I called Penelope to look up anything that she could about Meg, and that's why she's calling me now," she explained, and then she pushed the speaker button on her phone. "Okay, we're on speaker."
Half hour later, the Winchesters and Bobby had explained to both Hotch and Penelope about what was going on, and why Liz had asked for information about Meg Masters.
`"I can see why you asked for the information, Liz,"` Hotch said, although he was still a bit reluctant to believe that demons were real, but he was willing to take a leap of faith. `"Go ahead and tell them, Garcia."`
`"Okay, Meg Masters of Andover, Massachusetts, was last seen leaving her parents home on the second of January at 2:30 PM, and heading back to college,"` Penelope reported. `"Her car was found two weeks later on the side of the road with no sign of her or her belongings; the police did find signs of a struggle and traces of sulfur, and I'm guessing that's proof of being taken by a demon?"`
"It is, Penelope," Dean confirmed, glancing at 'Meg' once more. "And that's actually good news."
`"Anything else that we can do to help?"` Hotch asked.
"We'll let you know if we do, Agent Hotchner," Dean promised and had Liz clicked her phone off. "Time to get to work."
A few minutes later, Dean, Liz, and Sam were standing by 'Meg'; Sam was holding their father's journal open.
"Are you gonna read me a story?" 'Meg' asked, smirking.
Dean didn't react to the smirk. "Somethin' like that. Hit it, Sam." And Sam began speaking in Latin.
"An exorcism?" 'Meg' asked with a hint of fear. "Are you serious?"
Dean nodded. "Oh, we're goin' for it, baby - head-spinning, projectile vomiting, the whole nine yards."
As Sam continued reading, 'Meg' suddenly grimaced and moaned in pain, and he stopped.
"I'm gonna kill you," 'Meg' promised through gritted teeth. "I'm gonna rip the bones from your body."
"No, you're gonna burn in hell," Dean told her "unless you tell us where our dad is." But 'Meg' said nothing. "Well, at least you'll get a nice tan." And he gave Sam a nod.
Sam resumed reading. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio, et secta diabolica."
'Meg', trembling, suddenly screamed in pain. "He begged for his life with tears in his eyes," she said through clenched teeth. "He begged to see his sons and daughter one last time. That's when I slit his throat."
Both Sam and Liz looked at Dean nervously. Dean, on the other hand, leaned in very close to 'Meg', so that they were inches away from each other.
"For your sake, I hope you're lying," he said coldly. "'Cause if it's true, I swear to God, I will march into hell myself, and I will slaughter each and every one of you evil sons of bitches, so help me God." And he backed away from her.
"Perditionis venenum propinare," Sam read. "Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae, hostis humanae salutis." Suddenly, the pages of a nearby open book began to turn on their own, as if a wind was blowing; he hesitated at first, but then continued. "Humiliare sub potenti manu dei, contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine, quem inferi tremunt."
'Meg' continued to suffer; she screamed again, shaking uncontrollably.
"Where is he?" Dean demanded.
'Meg' glared at him. "You just won't take "dead" for an answer, will you?"
"Where is he?!" Dean yelled.
"Dead!" Meg shouted back.
"No, he's not!" Dean snarled. "He's not dead, he can't be!" Both Liz and Sam looked at Dean, confused. "What are you lookin' at? Keep reading."
Shaken, Sam did so. "Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, domine. Ut ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos." Suddenly, 'Meg' screamed loudly, and her chair began moving around the inside of the Devil's Trap as he continued to read; the lights in the room flickered as she screamed again. "Te rogamus audi-" and her chair stopped.
"He will be!" 'Meg' shouted and Sam stopped reading.
"Wait! What?!" Dean exclaimed.
"He's not dead," 'Meg' repeated. "But he will be after what we do to him."
Dean frowned, exchanging a look with both Liz and Sam. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"
'Meg' glared. "You don't."
Dean turned away. "Sam!"
"A building!" 'Meg' shouted frantically. "Okay? A building in Jefferson City."
"Missouri? Where, where? An address!" Dean ordered.
Meg shook her head, scared. "I don't know!"
"And the demon, the one we're looking for, where is it?" Sam asked.
"I don't know, I swear!" Meg cried. "That's everything. That's all I know." She was exhausted; tears streaked her face, and she was breathing heavily.
Dean looked at Sam. "Finish it."
"What?" 'Meg' yelped. "I told you the truth!"
Dean glared at her. "I don't care."
Meg glared daggers at him. "You son of a bitch. You promised."
"I lied!" Dean retorted. "Sam?" and looked at his little brother when he didn't do anything. "Sam!" He walked over to him. "Read."
Sam shook his head, thinking. "We can still use her - find out where the demon is."
Dean doubted that. "She doesn't know."
"She lied!" Sam hissed.
"Sam, there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there," Dean pointed out. "We've got to help her."
Just then, Bobby walked over to them. "You're gonna kill her."
Both Dean and Liz looked at him, confused. "What?"
"You said she fell from a building," Bobby explained. "That girl's body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive is that demon inside. You exorcise it, the girl is gonna die."
"Listen to me, all of you," Dean said seriously, "we are not gonna leave her like that."
Bobby shook his head. "She is a human being."
"And we're gonna put her out of her misery." Dean stated; Bobby backed down, and he turned back to Sam. "Sam, finish it." Sam looked over at 'Meg', who was still struggling. "Finish it."
Sam was still uncertain and Liz took the book from him.
"I'll do, Sam," she said and began reading. "Dominicos sanctae ecclesiae. Terogamus audi nos." as she read, 'Meg's' body twitched, and her eyes turned coal-black. A moment later, she tilted her head up to the ceiling and let out a long, loud scream; an enormous cloud of black smoke erupted from her mouth, and they watched in awe.
When the demon had left her body, Meg's head fell forward; she was motionless and seemed to be dead as a string of blood and saliva dripped from her mouth. Suddenly, she began to lift her head up slowly, and blood was running from her nose and mouth.
"She's still alive," Dean gasped, turning to Bobby. "Call 911. Get some water and blankets."
Nodding, Bobby quickly left the room; Sam, Liz, and Dean went over to Meg's chair and began untying the ropes around her wrists.
"Thank you," Meg said weakly.
"Shh, shh…just take it easy, all right? Shh," Sam said quickly.
"Come on," Dean said once the ropes were undone. "Let's get her down." As gently as they could, they picked her up and carried her over to the floor as she groaned in pain.
"Sorry, sorry," Sam apologized. "I've got you. I've got you. It's okay. It's okay." And they laid her down.
"A year," Meg said quietly, confirming what Penelope had just told them.
"What?" Sam asked.
Meg coughed up more blood. "It's been a year."
"Shh, shh, just take it easy," Liz requested.
"I've been awake…for some of it," Meg explained. "I couldn't move my own body. The things I did - it's a nightmare."
"Was it telling us the truth about our dad?" Dean asked.
Both Sam and Liz shot their brother a warning look. "Dean."
"We need to know," Dean insisted.
"Yes," Meg confirmed. "But it wants you to know…that they want you to come for him."
Dean could live with that. "If Dad's still alive, none of that matters."
At that exact moment, Bobby returned with blankets and a glass of water; Dean took the water and brought it to Meg's mouth. She tried to drink but spit some of it out.
"Where's the demon we're looking for?" Sam asked as he, Liz, and Bobby placed a blanket under her head and covered her with another one.
Meg coughed again. "Not there…other ones - awful ones."
"Where are they keeping our dad?" Dean asked.
"By the r-river," Meg gasped. "Sunrise."
Dean didn't understand. "Sunrise? What does that mean?" but Meg didn't answer. "What does that mean?"
It was too late, Meg was dead, and they all exchanged sad glances; Dean looked at Meg's lifeless body.
A/N: I feel sorry for the real Meg, but Dean had a point in getting the demon out of her since it's better to die as a human with your freedom instead of living as a prisoner in your own body; interesting fact, Nicki Aycox, who was the first actress to play Meg, would later play an unsub in an episode during the second season of Criminal Minds.
R&R everyone!