Since When Do Women Fall Like Rain?
Lanie stumbled out of bed stretching and groaning "I'm coming, I'm coming." at her alarm clock. She flicked off the alarm vaguely wondering why she still bothered to set it since she hadn't worked in months. She threw on a pair of cotton yoga pants and stumbled down the hall stopping off at the bathroom to empty her achingly full bladder, as she washed her hands she gazed at her reflection dourly. Lanie Davenport was a nobody, the kind of person no one ever notices. She even looked like a nobody. She wasn't especially ugly but she wasn't pretty, she was just sort of plain. Her hair wasn't really brown but it wasn't really blonde either, it was some dirty dishwater color in between. She wasn't truly fat but she wasn't skinny, she was just average. The only remarkable feature about her was her eyes. They were a beautiful deep blue but no one ever noticed, she had this tendency to look down or off to one side, rarely looking people in the face and never in the eye. If someone were to ask her what her neighbor, whom she had said hi to every day for almost six months while collecting her mail, looked like she'd only be able to come up with the barest of descriptions. He was tallish and thin with darkish hair...maybe. She'd lost her job at the nursing home almost a year ago after suffering another major breakdown, this one at work and insulting everyone within earshot. She'd been able to collect unemployment up until last week, that is, and now she was in the process of applying for mental disability because she'd been unable to find anyone willing to hire someone so "unstable".
She ran a brush through her hair and pulled it up in a loose ponytail, brushed her teeth and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. She leisurely munched on a piece of toast and drank half her cup of coffee before remembering she had left a load of laundry in the machine last night. She plunked down her coffee and hurriedly made her way down the empty hall to the laundry room. On her way back to her coffee, Lanie tripped painfully over something and pitched forward heading straight for an up close and personal introduction with the floor. She squeezed her eyes shut waiting for the hard surface to say hello and when it didn't, but the feeling of falling persisted abnormally long, she opened her eyes. Not believing what she was seeing her eyes went as wide as dinner plates at first then she slammed them shut and prayed. Still falling, she opened her eyes once more, to see the Earth rising up rapidly to meet her. She could make out trees and a lush green clearing and fervently prayed to land in the grass, she might live through it IF she landed in the grass but she was certain landing in the trees would mean a very painful death. She did the only thing a person in her situation could or would do, she screamed long and very loud.
Dean was the first to break the silence, "Do you hear that?" Sam swiveled his head around trying to locate the source of the screaming with more than a little shock he realized it was coming from above them! "Dean, Look!" he shouted as he pointed towards the sky. Deans face tipped to the heavens as he squinted to make out the shape plummeting earthward in the glare of the sun and incredulously asked, "Since when does it rain naked women, Sammy?"He said with a sly grin. Sam gave his brother an annoyed look, "She's probably not naked. Probably just a skydiver whose shoot isn't opening." They watched in sick fascination as the woman disappeared behind a nearby stand of trees and they heard an audible thump. Sam regretfully said "We better go see if she survived that landing." Dean gave Sam a look that said seriously? "Do you really think someone could survive that?"He asked incredulous. "People survive falls like that all the time, Dean." he said earnestly.
Her body felt kind of like a mack truck had run her over then backed up and did it again. She didn't remember going out drinking last night...maybe she was sick. With her head pounding unmercifully, Lanie pried her bleary eyes opened as she stretched awake to stare dumbfounded at a room that wasn't hers. She sat up looking frantically about trying hard to remember where she was and what had happened. The room was a bit rundown, the wallpaper was faded and peeling and the only furniture was a battered old dresser and the worn bed. She didn't recognize anything about this room. With fear creeping in she thought hard about yesterday… What did she remember? She clearly remembered getting up and having toast and coffee for breakfast and then going to switch loads of laundry and… She fell, that was it, she'd tripped over something in the hall and fallen. She must have hit her head and dreamt about falling from somewhere very high up but that didn't explain where she was now or how she had gotten here or even how long she'd been here. Anxiety mounting she flipped back the shabby bedspread and was several steps from the bed before realizing she was completely naked. What the Hell? Naked? She never slept naked, oh God what had she done? Her eyes raked the room searching desperately for any sign of her clothing. When she came up empty she decided to try the dresser. As she fumbled quietly through the three drawers all she could find were mens clothes. Deciding something was better than nothing, she selected a pair of dark blue boxers and a plain black t-shirt; the jeans must belong to a giant because when she tried them on they were like ten inches too long. The boxers too were huge but she rolled the waistband down a couple times and snugged them on her hips. Oh well, the t-shirt covered her to mid-thigh that would have to do under the circumstances. As she contemplated her wardrobe, she noticed the faint rumble of deep voices coming from somewhere beyond the door. She stood stock still, listening hard, trying to make out what they were saying. There were definitely two of them, they were arguing softly but insistently. She was unable to decipher any of what was being said. Trepidation mounting she tiptoed to the door and gently turned the knob. The soft click of the latch and the voices abruptly halted. Well, no sense hiding, I might as well go face the music, she thought to herself. Her bare feet barely made a whisper on the rough wooden floor boards as she ghosted down the short hall. The hall ended in what could only be a living room, as it contained a chair and sofa, bookshelves lined one wall. Further scanning brought two men into her range of vision, she didn't look at their faces merely studied their clothes. There outfits matched almost exactly, worn work boots, comfortable jeans, solid plain t-shirts and long sleeved flannel over shirts. One was wearing a black hoodie, the other a shabby brown leather jacket. Something about the way they were dressed felt familiar, like she had seen someone else dressed like that but couldn't remember who. Shyly she lifted her eyes to their faces, incredulously her jaw dangled loose and eyes went round and vast. It was impossible, this couldn't be, they weren't real. She blinked and rubbed her eyes as if that might somehow change what she was seeing. Nope, she was still staring open mouthed at Sam and Dean Winchester.
Like in so many episodes Sam raised his hands palms out to pacify her, "It's ok we're not gonna hurt you. I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean." "But…but…" was all she could manage before Dean started interrogating her, "Who are you?" he demanded gruffly. Lanie wasn't sure what to say, what she should say or if she should say anything at all, I mean what do you say to a hallucination? She stood statue still watching a small bug crawl along a crack in the floor boards. She was certain she'd finally had that "complete psychotic break" the doctors warned her about. Because there was no way THIS was really happening, in desperation she tried that little scar trick of Sam's. She reached out pinching herself hard on the thigh. She could definitely feel it but the Winchesters stubbornly refused to blink and vanish. She could feel them staring at her, curiosity got the better of her and she sneaked a tiny peak at their faces. Just a quick glance really if they hadn't been staring right at her they probably wouldn't have noticed the covert surveillance. "Who the Hell are you?" Dean all but shouted into her face. "How the frig did you survive falling without a scratch? Where did you even come from? There wasn't a plane within twenty miles? We checked." Dean ran all his questions together like they were all just one long question typical Dean style. She decided she couldn't risk her family just in case she really was here so she opted to give them a fake name, she chose the name of the heroin of her latest fanfic. "Daneya." She spoke the one word in a breath barely above a whisper. Dean stared at her dumbfounded as though she'd spoken a foreign language, "What did you say? What's that?" "It's my name. Daneya, Daneya Chase." She answered softly trying to buy some time to figure out what exactly was going on here. This didn't seem like any hallucination, I mean shouldn't she be seeing something less obviously a hallucination? Maybe she'd hit her head really hard and this was some weird coma dream or she was really dying on her hallway floor because no one would come looking for her for a week or more until her corpse started to smell.
"Daneya is it? That's a pretty name. Daneya, we're friends, really. We just want to help. If you're in trouble or something we can help you." He was careful to keep his tone calm and volume low like he might for an injured animal or a frightened child. "What happened to you?" he asked her. Still not entirely convinced this wasn't a coma dream, seriously how could it be real, she opted to talk to Sam, since she'd always thought of him as the nice one. As she spoke she kept glancing around the room looking for a film crew and cameras but none were to be found. "I tripped." She finally replied with no sign of humor or sarcasm. "What?" Dean bellowed, stepping towards her aggressively. "You tripped. Really? What, you were just taking a little stroll across the clouds and tripped over a freaking rainbow?" She stepped back quickly keeping a safe distance, eyes pointed at the floor. Sam hurriedly stepped between them. "Dean, come on, can't you see yelling at her isn't helping. It's ok, Daneya, really. Please just tell us what you remember."Sam interjected.
"I told you like a thousand times I DON'T KNOW." She answered irritated. She'd been over this about a million times over the last hour, tripping and falling then plummeting through the air and blacking out, waking up here. Her stomach rumbled and she couldn't deny that she felt ravenous. Do people in dreams even feel hungry, she vaguely wondered. "How long have I been here?" "We found you yesterday late afternoon; you've been unconscious since then."Sam answered kindly. Dean was getting fed up with her evading his questions. "She hasn't told us anything, Sam, and that's just peachy for you? Really, Sam?" Dean gruffly asked dripping sarcasm. "Dean, I don't think she's lying. I think she really doesn't know what happened." "Great. Just freaking great." Dean huffed exasperated plopping down on the dusty sofa. "So, now what do we do with her?" Dean hated to admit it but she didn't react to silver, holy water, salt, she had blood not black goo. She was human as far as they could tell and more likely than not completely batshit crazy, since they couldn't convince her she wasn't pulling an Alice in Wonderland dream trip. "Dean, just give her some time to wrap her head around it. I'm sure she'll come around." Sam said unconvincingly. "Daneya, can I get you some coffee or something to eat?" He asked gently.
She sat quietly at the table thinking about her situation. What do I do? How do I explain? Should I explain? How much do I tell them? Why is this dream so real? If this is my dream, then where the Hell is Cas? He was the one I've been having dreams about for the last couple of weeks. He should be here, not Dean. How could he NOT be here? She didn't realize that they were watching her closely, reading her facial expressions as her thoughts shifted her through several emotions. "He's not dead." Dean could hear the anguish in her softly spoken words. It struck deep at his heart and he grew defensive. "What the Hell are you talking about? Who's not dead?" He growled. Dean had a sinking feeling he knew what she was going to say but he pushed her anyway. "Castiel." She stared silently at her coffee. "Wait! What did you just say? How do you know that name? Who are you?" The questions flew from his mouth suspicious and reproachful. He was tired of her not looking at him, of her not answering him. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. She knew something about Cas, what else did she know? Who was this mysterious woman who fell from a clear blue sky? He quickly closed the distance between them and grabbed her roughly by the arm, pulling her out of her chair and turning her around to face him. Holding her roughly by the arms, "Tell me right now who are you and how do you know that name? He insisted huskily, his voice full of emotions. "I just know some things." She replied evasively. Sam grabbed Deans arm and yanked him away from her. "Dean, stop. What are you doing? We're supposed to be HELPING her not scaring her to death." Sam yelled. "Daneya, how do you know that name, please?" Sam asked her much more calmly than Dean had. "I told you I know some things about some stuff." She replied feigning a confidence she didn't feel. She knew in her heart of hearts Dean wouldn't really hurt her, would he? Dean eyed her warily, "She knows something, Sam." He stared daggers at the woman not totally convinced she wasn't something they should put down. Being as direct as possible Sam asked, "Daneya, do you know who we are?" "Duh, you're the Winchesters, hunting things, saving people, the family business." She quoted sincerely. Sam was baffled. Dean was suspicious. "How do you know about us?" Sam questioned with a little more calm than he actually felt. With a small sigh, "I don't have a social life." Came her reply as if that should explain everything. She'd seen enough episodes and read enough fan fictions to know how this whole process would go and opted to cut through the crap. "Look," she said wearily, "I'm nobody special I just know some stuff about you guys. The HOW is of no import, it's the information I have that's important. Cas is alive and he'll be getting of Purgatory soon but I'm not sure exactly when… or how." She smiled up at Sam glad to finally be able to say something besides I don't know. "Guys really, I'm on your side. I just… I don't know if I should tell you where I'm from. You won't believe me and even if you do I have family there who could end up hurt if anyone found out about me." She silently begged them not to force her to tell them they weren't real. "Ok. Fine I'll tell you something, if it'll shut Dean up. I know about you guys… who you are. What you do. I know Dean and Cas went to Purgatory and Dean got out. Cas hasn't… yet. I know about Benny and Amelia. I know about all of it, Heaven, Hell, Angels, Demons, the things that go bump in the night. And I think you guys are amazing… to do what you do… what you've done. I need you guys to teach me at least enough to keep me from getting myself killed anytime soon."
Sam sat quietly typing away on his laptop while Dean and Daneya had it out. He was looking for any information on Daneya Chase he could find but was coming up empty handed. It was like the woman didn't exist. The woman had stopped arguing and was now staring at the floor ignoring Dean so completely Sam was starting to wonder if she'd gone deaf. It was time to point out there was no record anywhere of a Daneya Chase. Sam took a deep breath and started, "Um, Dean, I googled her name and got nothing… I mean there are no records of Daneya Chase in any state at anytime. There's nothing, it's like she never existed… or lied about her name." He felt silly once he realized that must be what happened. She was being so secretive about where she was from, worried about family she left behind, she must have lied about her name. Dean glared daggers at her but she never saw, she was busy purposefully pretending he wasn't there. "You lied to us!" he was flipping pissed at the woman. How could anyone ignore him like that, the more he raised his voice the further she withdrew inside of herself. She looked up for only a minute and leveled her eyes on Dean, "I had no choice. You wanted answers and I CAN'T tell you. I can't take chances with the people I love. I'm stuck here. If I really am here, I have no way to get home so I better make the best of it. I'm NOT telling you my real name… just in case."(She didn't want to mention that the *just in case* was actually just in case this WAS real) This wasn't the answer Dean wanted. This woman was infuriating him beyond reason, he needed a drink. He walked to the table, snatched up his bottle of rotgut whiskey and a glass, quickly poured himself a drink and downed it in one gulp.
Chapter 2
Having dirt on the eldest Winchester was certainly icing on the proverbial cake. Dean was teaching her to shoot like she'd blackmailed him to, that whole Rhonda Hurley thing was good info to remember... although admittedly she'd never tell Sam but Dean didn't have to know that. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to hit the broad side of a damn barn but he kept encouraging her to try again. She raised the muzzle and reminded herself to squeeze not pull and the shot rang out just like all the rest but this time Dean whooped in victory. "I told you that you could hit it! Just have to keep trying." "Yeah I did SOOO great… I hit the edge of the BOX the target was on this time. I'm a regular Deadshot" She rolled her eyes. "Try again, this time try aiming a little up and left from where you aimed last time. After another few moderately successful shots Dean decided to call it quits for the afternoon. It was time to be getting back to the hotel and let Sam grill her in the exorcism incantation again. On the drive back to the hotel Dean was quiet deep in his own thoughts and Daneya wasn't feeling like stirring a hornets' nest so she asked him to crank the stereo and just sat back and promptly fell asleep. While she was sleeping Dean thought he saw Cas walking on the side of the road and after what she'd said about him being alive and getting out he was very disappointed he wasn't really there. Later that night back at the hotel Cas did show up looking like absolute shit and Dean was glad to have his friend back but something just wasn't right. Daneya kept to herself barely speaking to Cas other than to say welcome home. After a long time in the bathroom Cas was looking like his old self, though he admitted he wasn't completely one hundred percent.
Daneya was in awe it was HIM, Castiel, Angel of the freaking Lord. He was here and he was looking at her with his head tilted ever so slightly looking confused and she nearly pulled a Becky and squeed. She held it together but her throat went dry and all she could manage when Dean finally bothered to introduce her was welcome home. Embarrassed at her inability to command her own body she blushed and stared at the floor watching him covertly as he interacted with Sam and Dean. She wasn't a part of this story so she felt out of place